The Dark Past: Confusing Times
by Taran
Summary: Old Version
1. Evan Rosier's Pensieve

Body Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Author's Note: the story starts out light hearted but then it gets dark. In this story the Ministry of Magic is not a faultless entity but one that is capable of making mistakes, in this case, a huge one that has lasting repercussions for those involved. Especially for the victims. 

Chapter 1: Evan Rosier's Pensieve 

Harry laid awake in his soft warm bed at the Weasley house, listening to the quiet sounds of Ron's snoring, unable to get Evan Rosier's Pensieve out of his mind. Mr. Weasley had confiscated it from Malfoy Manor that morning and was storing in his bedroom, under his bed, until he could hand it over to Dumbledore. 

Harry wasn't supposed to have heard any of that but he hadn't felt well in the afternoon and come in early while everyone else was still playing a game of Quidditch. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been talking to each other, in hushed voices, at the table and Harry had heard every word they said. 

He sighed tiredly. Most people probably wouldn't have cared but Evan Rosier had been a friend of Snape's and Harry wanted to know what a young Snape had been like, what a Death Eater Snape had been like to, and that Pensieve held his answers. 

Why couldn't Snape have looked at him with hate at the end of the year feast instead of that strange unreadable expression? Much of Harry's hate for Snape had dissipated over the summer because of that, leaving him with a burning desire to find out why he had become a Death Eater and why he had changed sides. 

Cursing his curiosity, Harry slipped the invisibility cloak over his gawky body and slipped out of bed. He arranged the pillows to look like a sleeping person and then crept out of the room, standing still in the doorway to make sure that Ron was still asleep. 

Harry would have liked company in his latest adventure but Ron hated Snape and wouldn't care about what the Pensieve had to say and Hermione, well, she was too much of a rule abider to do something like this. He was on his own this time. 

Harry, using all of his skill at being soundless he had acquired living with the Dursley's, silently walked to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room. He opened the door and quietly shut it behind him. From the sounds of it, they were both asleep. 

Padding over to the bed, Harry glanced at the sleeping Weasley's, making sure they were really asleep, before bending down and crawling under the bed. 

The Pensieve was there. It looked just like Dumbledore's. Taking his wand out, Harry swirled it around, not exactly sure how the things really worked, and muttered "Hogwarts, fifth year." 

That would be a starting point at least and Harry didn't want to have to see Voldemort right off. He just hoped that Evan Rosier wasn't already serving Voldemort as a fifteen year old. 

Harry stuck his head over the Pensieve and felt it pull him in, struggling not to gasp at the strange sensation. 


	2. Guitars, Frogs, and Girlfriends

Body Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Chapter 2: Guitars, Frogs, and Girlfriends 

Harry found himself standing in what had to be a Slytherin dorm room. The canopy beds were curtained in black fabric while the bedspreads were green with a silver serpent emblazoned on them. There were two rows of beds, five each, on both sides of the dungeon looking room. Each bed had a chest at the end of it and they came in all sizes and shapes and wood types. One was even a metal Muggle looking box. 

Harry suddenly found himself aware of the sound of singing and guitar playing. Had the Slytherins found a way to smuggle radios in? Hogwarts students weren't allowed them, not even the Wizard kind. But Harry wouldn't put anything past the Slytherins. 

"That's wrong," muttered a vaguely familiar voice as the guitar playing stopped, from the back of the dorm. 

Harry couldn't see anything because of the canopy beds. Steeling himself and remembering that they couldn't see him, it was just a Pensieve after all, and he was still wearing his cloak to boot, Harry walked in the direction of the voice. 

"Sounded fine to me, Sev," said a thick voice. 

Sev? Severus Snape? 

Harry hurried his steps. Rounding the end of a bed, one with a rough hewn chest at the end of it, Harry stopped and stared. 

Snape, the most feared teacher at Hogwarts, was sitting with his back to a huge boy, wearing a Muggle oversized green T-shirt and black boxer shorts. He had dark sunglasses on and had a guitar on his lap, and he was intently studying some of the music sheets that he had spread all around him. 

At least his hair was still greasy and long, to his shoulders. But right now, it was purple. 

The large boy, Harry guess it was Evan Rosier since no one else seemed to be in the dorm, was eating chocolate frogs from a box on his lap. 

Harry blinked. This wasn't right. 

"Sing the Wizard's Last Duel," Rosier pleaded as he stuffed an entire frog into his large mouth. 

Rosier reminded Harry of Crabbe and Goyle. He was large, very large, and looked rather dull-witted. His busy dark brown hair made his head look twice it's size. Rosier was wearing Wizard garb. 

Snape lifted his sunglasses up to stare back at his friend. His eyes were just like Hagrids, warm and sparkling with life. And Snape was grinning, it made his rather stern face lose its hard edges. What had happened to him to make his eyes turn so cold and empty? 

"The real version or the one Florence made up?" he asked. 

Harry jerked. Florence? The same one Bertha Jorkins caught kissing someone or a different one? 

"Florence's," Rosier smiled. "It's so romantic," he said, a dreamy expression on his slow face. "But make it the Witch's Last Duel so at the end the Wizard can knock her out and carry her off into the sunset." 

Snape snorted. "What is with you and Florence?" he laughed. "Wanting to knock out your potential spouses and carry them off?" 

Rosier looked at Snape, a sly smile on his face. He didn't look all the dull-witted anymore. "It's not me Flora wants to knock out." 

Snape's face turned a brilliant shade of red as he ducked his head down. Rosier's booming laughter filled the room and echoed off the walls. 

Had it been Snape Bertha had seen kissing Florence? It made sense since she got hexed for the act and Snape had known, according to Sirius, a ton of curses when he arrived at school. Hexes and curses were basically the same thing after all. 

"Don't worry, Sevvie," Evan said, sitting up and draping an arm around Snape's shoulders. "I'll protect you from her." 

"And who will protect you from me, Evan?" asked a female voice right behind Harry. Harry spun around. A rather dumpy witch was standing there, her plain face struggling to contain a grin. She lost the battle. The smile made her look friendly even if not pretty. 

"Nobody needs to protect me Flora baby," Evan said, lumbering to his feet, tossing the chocolate frog box on the bed next to them. "You didn't mess up the charm to seal the room against the others did you?" he asked, suddenly stern as he eyed Florence up and down. 

Florence snarled at him, her eyes flashing. "I can do a charm just as well as Severus!" 

Evan sneered down at her. "I don't think so." 

Florence yanked her wand out of her robe pocket, Evan's was already in his hand. 

"Children, children," came Snape's soft voice as he gathered up his music sheets. "Play nicely together." 

Florence broke into a grin as she looked at him around Evan's massive bulk. "This coming from the boy who likes to engage in staring contests with Perthia Roberts." 

Snape waggled his eyebrows and Harry choked. This wasn't Snape. This was a normal fifteen year old boy and from the little Sirius had told him about Snape, Harry had figured Snape had been some sort of evil little grease ball that had gone around spending all of his time trying to expel his father or locked up in the library, poring over dusty volumes of dark magic. 

"It's good practice," Snape said as he stepped to the rough hewn chest and carefully placed his music sheets in a folder. "For when I need to be intimidating." He closed the chest and sat on it. 

"You already are intimidating," Rosier said, looking Snape up and down. "Except when you are wearing shorts. Your knees are too knobbly." 

Harry looked at them, they were knobbly all right, just like his. 

Snape looked down at them. "Maybe I should wear shorts then," he mused. 

Florence said down next to him. "Only around me. I don't won't other girls staring at you cute little knees," she said, patting the closest one. 

Harry choked, Rosier snorted, and Snape turned red again. 

"Did you bring your guitar?" Snape asked, standing up. 

Florence looked disappointed that he had moved. "Yes," she said, pulling out a tiny miniature guitar from her pocket. She tapped it with her wand and muttered something under her breath. A normal sized guitar was soon in her lap. 

"Wizard's Last Duel," she asked, putting it aside and slipping off her robe. Harry started to look away when he saw she was wearing Muggle clothing too. An oversized red T-shirt and loose black shorts. 

Snape slipped the strap of his guitar around his neck, Harry noticed that the strap had silver snakes adorning it, and nodded. "Yep. Evan will sing Witch's Last Duel." 

Rosier's guitar strap had golden snitches on it, he was still wearing his black wizard robes. Harry looked to Florence. Hers had dragons on it. 

They formed a line, with Rosier in the middle, and on the count of three started up. It was terrible. Harry winced, not wanting to plug his eyes just yet. 

Of all the things Harry had imagined the Slytherins were doing at Hogwarts during their free time this had never occurred to him. The three of them of them were smiling, laughing, and howling out of tune. Except for Snape, who sounded and played quite well. 

"The Wizard's strength was gone!" Snape and Florence sang while Rosier changed it to Witch. 

"His wand fell to the ground!" 

"And then the Witch knocked him out and took him home!" Rosier's was Wizard. 

"They married and had a family!" 

Rosier bumped into the other two and all three went crashing to the ground, their guitars safely held away from their bodies. 

"That's what I'm going to do to you as soon as I can best you at dueling," Florence said, staring at Snape. 

Harry would have laughed but she was quite serious. Snape weakly smiled at her, he seemed to realize it to. 

"Well then," Rosier grinned, extracting himself from the tangle of bodies and standing up. "Sev, you had been grab John and practice some more. Florence is getting good. She best me last week." 

Florence nodded her head happily, still staring at Snape. 

"We really should wait until after our seventh year to get married," Snape cautioned. 

"I will," Florence said, standing up. "Unless I beat you before then that is." 

She grabbed Snape's outstretched hand and hauled him up. "Leg still hurting you?" she asked, looking down at it. 

Snape winced. "Yeah." 

Evan shook his head at Snape. "Hopefully you learned your lesson about going into the Forbidden Forest. It's Forbidden." 

Snape kicked his leg out. "Nah. I have to find a sample of that purple and orange ringed mushroom that grows in it. It's an ingredient for my latest potion." 

Florence hit her head with her hand and fell backwards onto the bed. "You may accidentally get yourself killed before we can get married. By the way," she said, her tone low and threatening. "Once we are married you are not going to be running into danger! You will take your life seriously!" 

Snape's eyes widened and he tried to look the picture of innocence. "I know what I'm doing. I only tripped because Hagrid accosted me. Luckily he was drunk and I was able to convince he had imagined seeing me there." 

Florence still eyed him with doubt. 

Snape collected all the guitars and shrank them, putting them into his chest. 

He looked around, spotted the box of frogs that Rosier was headed to and dove for it. Harry was startled as Snape grabbed up the box and ran. 

"Give me back my frogs you toad!" Rosier shouted. 

Florence jumped on Rosier's back as he bolted past the bed. "Run Sevi!" she screamed. "Run!" 

Harry watched in utter fascination as Snape jumped on the Slytherin beds and bounced from one to the other as Rosier tried to catch him, with Florence still hanging on his back. 

They looked and acted so normal. Like regular fifteen year olds. How had Rosier and Snape become Death Eaters? Gone from carefree teenagers to angsty adults in such a short time? 

As Snape rounded the dorm room and attempted to jump on another bed, Rosier grabbed him around the waist. Snape flung the frog box away from himself, but Rosier didn't let go. He just tucked Snape under one massive arm and headed to a door. 

"What?! Not the bathroom!" Snape screamed as Florence pounded on Rosier's head. 

She wasn't doing it very hard and she was laughing so hard she could barely hang onto Rosier in the first place. 

Rosier kicked the door open and stalked in. He kicked the large tub's tap on and then started to spin around. 

Snape screamed, a hand clapped to his mouth. "No! Don't!" I'm going to get sick!" 

"I know," Rosier said simply. 

Snape tried to get away but he couldn't and Florence was cracking up to much to be of any help. 

When the tub was full, Harry watched, too stunned by everything that was happening to even move much, as Rosier dumped them both in, then he jumped in himself, splashing water everywhere. 

Snape looked green. He swam to the water's edge and leaned out of the tub, pressing his chest and head to the cool green tile floor as his legs swayed in the water. 

Florence, looking sympathetic, swam over. 

"You okay?" she asked, rubbing his back, and forcing herself not to smile. 

"Yeah," he said miserably. "But it was worth it!" 

She rolled her eyes. "That's what you said when you took that redcap's cap off and it tried to bludgeon you." 

"Had to see what it was hiding underneath it," Snape said simply. 

Rosier swam over and sat at the water's edge. 

"How do you think the other houses will feel if they found out it just wasn't the Slytherin Prefects that had the big tubs?" 

Snape grinned. "It might shut Potter up about bragging he was a Prefect." 

"You're just jealous about that," Rosier quipped. 

Harry expected Snape to deny it but he didn't. 

"Naturally. I've worked hard to become a Prefect," he frowned and for the first time Harry saw some of the bitterness and anger that would constantly cloud his face later in life. "Professor Mayor just won't let me because he's afraid of me. He's convinced I'm working for Voldemort." 

Rosier and Florence cringed at the name. 

"Don't say it," Rosier said. 

"Oh," Snape said, eyeing them. "Sorry. I didn't grow up hearing about him. We had other things to worry about. Whose running the world or trying to take it over just doesn't affect us." 

"Where do you live anyway?" Florence asked, moving her hand up to play with his hair. 

Harry frowned. She was touching his greasy hair! Florence didn't seem disgusted by it though and neither did Rosier for that matter. 

"Can't tell you," Snape said softly. "Sorry but I really can't." 

Florence bit her lower lip. "I could slip you veritaserum and make you tell me." Again Harry realized she was quite serious. 

Snape smiled. "That's illegal and where would you get it?" 

Florence grinned wickedly. "I'll find a way." 

Snape looked at her, with one eye closed. "I guess I'm in trouble then." 

She nodded her head. "Yep you are," she bent over and kissed his cheek. 

Evan groaned. "Eww! Am I going to have to be your chaperone for the rest of my school days." 

Florence winked at him. "Yes." 

Snape choked. "Florence Wilkes behave yourself." 

Harry plopped down. This was Wilkes. He glanced over at Rosier. Wilkes and Rosier, both killed a year before Voldemort fell. Harry shook his head. Florence might have a brother but... Sirius had said that Snape had hung out with the Rosier and Wilkes that had died. 

Harry looked away. They reminded him of himself, Ron and Hermione. What if Ron and Hermione died in the upcoming war? Would it make him a bitter man? No wonder why Snape was so miserable. His two best friends, and maybe his wife, dead. But, they had said Wilkes not Snape. So maybe they hadn't gotten married after all. Or maybe Florence had a brother that Snape hung out with. 

"I feel better now," Snape said, slowly getting to his feet. He was dripping wet and Harry had to blush at the way Florence was looking at him. She was only fifteen! Harry reminded himself never to get soaking wet with a girl around him. Snape didn't notice her expression, having his back to her, but Rosier did. He winked at her. Slytherins! 

Snape took his wand out and dried himself. Florence frowned. "I like you wet!" 

Snape shook his lowered head. "Girls are supposed to be the pure ones!" 

Indignant, Florence clamored out of the water, grabbed him around his waist and threw him back in the water. Snape crashed into Rosier and they both went under. 

Florence, looking satisfied with herself, jumped back in and hauled Snape up out of the water. 

He was choking, spitting, and laughing. Rosier emerged in between them and threw them both out, on opposite sides of the tub. He was strong! 

"Out!" he thundered. "I'm going to take a bath." 

"Can't I watch?" Florence asked, grinning and leering at him. 

Snape grabbed her arm and hauled her up, dragging her out of the bathroom, slipping and sliding along the way. They both exited the bathroom, laughing and hanging on each other. 

Harry was thankful he couldn't see anything as Rosier filled the bathtub with bubbles and then took his wizard robe off. Snape came back in after a few minutes, wearing his usual black robes. His hair was hanging like a curtain in front of his face and it was black again. 

"Do I like evil enough?" he hissed. 

Harry's eyes widened. He looked just like he would as a teacher, and he had his most sinister voice down pat already. 

Rosier laughed at the sight of him. "When did you start putting your hair in front of your face like that?" 

Snape parted it and grinned at Rosier, holding it back from his face like it was a curtain he was peering through. "Perthia gave me the idea!" 

Rosier groaned. "What is with the two you?" 

Snape shrugged, pushing his hair back, and slipping on sunglasses. "Florence has gone back to her dorm. She...." 

The memories swirled around. 


	3. Quidditch and Potions

Body Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Chapter 3: Quidditch and Potions 

Harry found himself sitting in the Quidditch stands, on the side he had never thought he would ever been in, the Slytherin side. 

Green robes were all around him and Harry quickly spotted Rosier and Snape, and Florence too. They were watching the match, against Gryffindor, on the top row of the Slytherin side. 

Harry walked up to it, freezing as he identified two of the people they were sitting next to. The heavy lidded lady from Dumbledore's Pensieve and the one that had looked at Crouch with a completely blank look. They were holding hands. The Lestranges. 

The person next to them, all six of them had the top row to themselves, had to be Avery. 

Snape looked slightly sick as he watched the match and Harry grinned at how often he rubbed his stomach, as if to calm it. No wonder he had been so nasty tempered when he had referred the Quidditch Match in Harry's first year. Flying made him sick. 

So Florence was the Wilkes Sirius had been referring to. 

Harry sat next to Snape, he was at the end of the line with Florence. Tearing his eyes away from the sight of six future Death Eaters, Harry looked up at the sky. 

A wild haired black haired boy was zooming around high up. Harry's heart beat faster. That was his father! He was seeing his dad play Quidditch! 

James was thrown the Quaffle and threw in into a hoop. The Gryffindors on the other side of the field screamed. 

"Great!" Snape muttered. "Now even if we get the snitch we will still lose. I wonder if I should curse Potter off his broom?" 

Florence giggled. 

"Little late for that aren't we?" asked the Lestrange boy, glaring over at Snape. 

Snape threw him a very intimidating look. Lestrange poked the girl sitting next to him. 

She bent forward and stared at Snape, her face a mirror image of his. Harry figured they would look away quickly but neither did. They just stared at each other, glaring, while the others watched the Quidditch match and occasionally shot them both amused glances. 

Harry turned back to the game. His dad was just like him on a broom, confident and self-assured. Feeling his eyes water, Harry was thankful that no one was here to see him. Not bothering to wipe at his eyes, Harry watched the match. 

James was scoring the most. Harry suddenly realized that Sirius was also up there. He was another Chaser. Watching the two of them flying so carefree in the sky made him think, unwillingly, of their future. One dead and one would imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit; Lupin would be alive but despised and friendless and Pettigrew would be a rat and in hiding. 

Harry glanced at Snape and his friends and frowned. Rosier and Wilkes, dead; the Lestranges, imprisoned; Avery, a coward and back in Voldemort's service; and Snape, on the good side, a former spy and maybe a current one. Snape, like Pettigrew, had betrayed all of his friends. 

Harry turned back to the game, shoving the depressing thoughts out of his mind. He searched for the Gryffindor seeker. She was a skinny awkward looking girl that was fluid, even more than James, on a broom. Sort of reminded Harry of himself. Except she didn't wear glasses. 

The Slytherin team was composed mainly of large boys. It didn't seem much had changed in that regard. 

Sirius and James often passed each other and Sirius threw nasty looks at Snape occasionally, but Snape was still engrossed in his staring contest with the future Mrs. Lestrange. Harry shook his head at that. Snape was odd. 

Cheers rang out as the Gryffindor seeker caught the snitch. Sirius sneered at Snape and then rolled his eyes, nudging James. James looked down and saw Snape. Him and Lestrange's girlfriend were still staring at each other, despite the commotion around them and the other students leaving the stands. 

Harry slowly stood up, shivering with excitement, as his dad landed in the stands, after he had gotten congratulated on his win, right next to Snape and therefore right next to Harry. Sirius had followed him. 

James looked just like him, except for the eyes like everyone kept telling him. James pushed a lock of hair back so it didn't trail down his glasses and stared at Snape, a smile on his face. 

"What are you doing?" James asked, his voice amused. 

"They're both practicing being evil," Florence said, in a dangerous voice. "All Slytherins have to practice it." 

"I thought it came naturally," Sirius remarked sarcastically. 

"Only to the select few," Snape answered, his eyes still on the girl. "I just happen to be one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately so does Perthia." 

Perthia slightly inclined her head at the compliment. 

"You are really weird," James said and then glanced at the other Slytherins. 

They were all staring at him with hate. James, Harry noticed, didn't seem intimidated by it. Harry felt a swelling of pride. 

"Come on, Severus," James said. "I need your help with my Potions homework." 

Harry had expected Snape to either refuse, make James beg, or demand payment, but his eyes just lit up. 

"Potions!" he said, tearing his eyes off Perthia and darting down the stands, taking the steps two at a time. 

"You idiot!" Perthia snarled. "I almost had him!" 

"Yeah right," James retorted. "You've never done it before and Severus is just getting better at it as he gets older. You're not." 

Perthia rose from her seat, looking like regal queen. She glared at James and then spun around, her cloak billowing around her. She stalked off, followed by Lestrange who shot James a nasty look. 

"Say hi to Lily for me," he leered as he turned away. 

James's face flushed red, his wand suddenly out. 

Florence quickly stood up, blocking James's aim. Avery walked after Lestrange and Perthia. 

Only Florence and Rosier remained. "Come on!" she ordered. "Leaving Severus alone in the Potions classroom is not a good idea. He can pick locks and disenchant the wards over the office to get the dangerous supplies." 

"He wouldn't do that," Sirius sneered, following after her and James. "He always follows the rules." 

Florence snorted. "Except when he really wants to do something. He is a Slytherin after all," she added proudly. 

Rosier, Harry noticed, was looking quite dull-witted right now. 

Sirius snorted in derision. Rosier and Florence ignored him as they headed to the Potions classroom in the dungeon. 

"Oh, no, he's been here for awhile," she muttered as they opened the door. 

Lupin and Lily were in the room too, so was Pettigrew for that matter, sitting at a table and watching Snape fiddle with some potion ingredients on the table next to them. 

Harry walked up to his mum, reaching a hand out and touching the air around her. Her eyes danced as James came into the room and sat beside her. Harry stepped back, staring at them. This was like the Mirror of Erised, only better. He hadn't thought Evan Rosier's Pensieve would have his parents in it. Maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to visit again. Mr. Weasley had said that Dumbledore would be getting it. 

Lily moved a strand of red hair back behind her ear and nodded towards Snape. 

"I'm surprised he agreed," she said. 

James looked at Snape with a small smile. "I said the magic word. Potions." 

Lily grinned knowingly. 

Florence had walked up to Snape and whispered something in his ear. They started to quietly argue as Rosier plopped down next to Lily. 

He leaned over. "Leave him and come with a real man!" 

Lily left her seat and walked around to sit behind James, who looked furious. 

"Can't you control your beast?" Sirius snarled at Snape. 

Snape walked over, Florence scowling at Sirius, and put a hand on a very angry Rosier's shoulder. 

"He's not a beast, Black. Don't be crude," Snape snapped. 

Rosier was shaking, his normally blank look replaced by one of rage and fury. 

Harry couldn't help but noticing the sudden tension in the room. Pettigrew was the only one cowering but it was obvious everyone was worried, including Snape. Apparently Rosier could get dangerous. 

"I got dragon tongue out of the office Evan," Snape said, slipping a small bottle out of his pocket. "We can use this to make a potion that will allow us to see our enemies underwear and then we can tell the entire female population just what Sirius Black wears under his robes. I'm sure they all want to know." 

Rosier howled as he hit the table. Sirius looked faintly indignant but he seemed to realize what a close call they just had. James and Lily even sent Snape a grateful glance. 

"There isn't a potion that does that!" Rosier said, glancing back at Snape. "I could just grab his ankles and dump him upside down." 

"We wouldn't want to permanently scar anyone," Florence said, still glaring at Sirius. He glared back. 

"What potion are you having trouble with?" Snape asked James. "The one we just did?" 

James tore his eyes of Rosier, disturbed by the sudden mood swing, and nodded his head. 

"Yeah, Professor Mayor didn't explain it well. Potions isn't my strong suit." 

Snape's eyes got rather glassy as he went over to a cauldron and began to explain the potion. His voice was low and he talked in the same manner he would have years later in the classroom. Harry grinned at Snape. He was in love with his subject. 

Harry turned to his parents again. They were sitting on a table top, away from Rosier, and listening intently to Snape. Even Sirius was listening to him. Lupin and Pettigrew moved away from Rosier, trying not to be obvious about it, and sat next to Lily and James. 

Harry's fists balled up as Pettigrew sent his mum a quiet look of adoration. That little creep had a crush on his mother! He even sat next to her. Lily patted his shoulder affectionately and turned her attention back to Snape. Pettigrew stared at the spot that Lily had touched for a few seconds and then looked at Snape, a smile of contentment on his face. Harry shuddered. 

Tearing his angry eyes of Pettigrew, Harry forced himself to stare at Snape. Snape was mixing ingredients into the cauldron and watching the potion simmering, his face lined in concentration. 

"Got it?" he asked absently, poring the last ingredient, eye of newt, into the cauldron and staring at it. The greenish liquid inside played off his face, giving it a rather eerie look. 

"Yes. Do you want us to leave you alone with your potion?" James asked. 

Snape didn't hear the teasing behind the words. "Yes that would be nice." 

Lily snickered into her hands as James shook his head. Lupin tried his best not to smile as Sirius poked him in the ribs. 

"Come on, Moony," Sirius said. "Snape wants to become one with his potion." 

Snape glanced up at Sirius and then back down at his potion. The fire was off and the cauldron he had been using was huge. Shrugging, Snape stepped into it and sat down, some of the potion spilling out on the floor. 

"What?!" James laughed. "He was joking!" 

Harry stared at Snape. Was he insane? 

"It's a curative for any wounds you might have," Snape explained. "And this is actually what you are supposed to do with it. Soak in it." 

Florence hit his head. "And why do you have that wound?" she snapped. 

James seemed startled by Florence as he headed for the doorway. "Thanks Severus!" he called as they left. 

Rosier suddenly grabbed a table and flung it across the room. He let loose a string of explicitives that made Harry angry and blush at the same time. Half of them had been about his mum! 

"Evan," Snape said, climbing out of the cauldron. "Calm down. Lily's not used to being around anybody but humans. She doesn't know how half-trolls act." 

So that was why Rosier was so big and strong. 

"They all think they are better than us," Rosier snarled. "That they can walk on us and say whatever they like to us. You heard what Blacky called me! A beast! I'll give him a beast!" 

Snape grabbed his arm. "Black has a temper. Kind of like you." 

Rosier slightly relaxed and then nodded to the cauldron. "Did that work?" 

Snape grinned, hopping one foot. "Yep. Forbidden Forest here I come!" 

Florence hit her head with her hand again and fell to the floor. Harry didn't blame her. Snape was crazy. 

The memories swirled. 


	4. Mushrooms and Lord Severus

Body _Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings_. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times

_by Taran_

_Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I appreciate them and keep them coming._

Chapter 4: Mushrooms and Lord Severus 

"Shhh!" came the hissing whisper as Harry whirled around. It was too dark to see anything. A sudden fear strangled his heart, was someone in the Pensieve with him? 

"Lumos!" came Snape's familiar voice as a light suddenly appeared underneath his face. "Boo!" 

Harry screamed and fell down. Snape could see him! How was that possible? 

"Get up," Snape laughed, reaching out a hand. Harry moved to take it, but it wasn't his hand that Snape's grasped and pulled up. It was Evan Rosier's. 

"You ever do that to me again and I'll kill you!" he snarled as Snape's wand light got brighter. 

They were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry felt like an idiot as he got up and dusted himself off, though there was nothing on him. Of course they couldn't see him, it was just memories. 

"Sorry," Snape said sheepishly. "I just couldn't help it." 

Rosier whacked him on the back, sending Snape flying into the ground. Hearing a far off howl and snarl, Harry glanced at the moon. It was a full moon! And this was the fifth year! His father, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin would be out running around. 

Rosier heard the noise and grabbed Snape off the ground. "That's a werewolf!" 

Snape shrugged, unconcerned as he slipped off his robe. Snape was wearing blue jeans and a long sleeve leather jacket. Both were quite faded and worn. 

He was still going to go into the forest with a werewolf on the loose? 

"We have to go tonight, the mushroom only comes out during the full moon." 

Rosier sighed, a long suffering sigh, and took off his own robes. He wore blue jeans and a plaid long sleeve shirt. "If I die tonight, I'm going to come back and haunt you!" he promised. 

"Evan, put the robes on that high branch so the werewolf won't tear them up if he or she comes by this way," Snape instructed. 

Rosier, looking slightly pale, hung them and turned back to Snape. "I should have woken up Florence. That way she could talk you out of this, or," Rosier said, glaring at him, "forget the talking and just curse you asleep." 

"That's why I didn't invite her," Snape grumbled. "And as soon as you master that curse I won't be inviting you along either." 

Rosier humphed. 

Harry followed them along as they went into the Forbidden Forest. Rosier was nervous and kept jumping at every little sound, Harry who wasn't even in the Forest found himself doing it too. Snape, on the other hand, was striding along confidently. He didn't seem to be concerned at all. What was with him? 

"Ah," came Snape's voice. "There is the mushroom!" 

Snape stood there, staring at the thing in total awe. The mushroom was clustered with several others and all of them had different color rings on their pale white flesh. Harry wondered which mushroom he meant. 

"What color?" Rosier asked, stepping towards them. 

"Don't touch them," Snape said, holding him back. "They are poisonous to the skin." 

Snape pulled out a plastic bag and a cloth one and carefully walked to the mushrooms, making sure he didn't step on one. Bending down he put the plastic bag over a purple and orange ringed one and pulled it up. Waiting for a few seconds he straightened back up and put the package in the cloth bag. 

Snape pointed his wand at the bag and muttered something. The bag turned red. 

"There," he said, coming over to join Rosier. "It's safe." 

Rosier stared at the bag nervously. Snape put it in the pocket of his jacket. 

He looked at Rosier and was about to say something when a crashing off to the left sent them both spinning around. 

It was a werewolf! 

Rosier snarled at Snape. But Snape wasn't panicking. He just flicked his wand at the werewolf and roared, "Paralysio!" 

The werewolf fell and struggled to get up. 

"Let's hurry, it'll only last for ten minutes." 

Harry stared at the werewolf and then back to Snape. Why had he gotten so angry about the trick Sirius had pulled? He could handle a werewolf without a problem. And how had he learned to handle a werewolf in the first place? He was only fifteen. 

But nothing in this Pensieve was making sense. Snape was nice, weirdly happy-go-lucky even, and his eyes were still full of warmth. Even Rosier seemed nice. But, Harry glanced at the big boy as they made their way back to the edge of the forest, he had a violent temper. Harry could see him murdering someone, he was capable of it. But not Snape, and not Florence Wilkes either. 

Shuddering, Harry glanced back to see if he could still see Lupin, if that was Lupin, and smiled as two outlines bent over the fallen form of the werewolf. A dog and a stag. Harry guessed the rat was around somewhere. 

Neither Snape or Rosier turned to see. They got their robes down from the tree and headed back to the castle, slipping them on as they went. 

"That was close!" Rosier muttered. "And where did you learn that spell? And how did you know to use it?" 

Snape winked at Rosier. "Not telling. Unless you have Veritaserum on you, don't expect me to answer." 

"I'm going to help Florence with that little problem," Rosier grumbled. 

Snape grinned. "Hopefully, with only two years left after this one, you two won't be able to get your hands on it." 

The memories swirled and Harry found himself in the same dungeon room he had Potions in. It was Potions also. The Gryffindors with the Slytherins too. 

The future Death Eater bunch sat at two tables, butted up together. Florence, Rosier, and Snape at one table and Lestrange, Perthia, and Avery at the other. They were talking mainly to the ones at their own table and only occasionally looked to people at the other. 

Harry looked over at the Gryffindor side and spotted his mum, dad, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew. They were sharing a table together and even though it looked crowded none of them seemed to mind. Except Pettigrew. He was giving James and Lupin slightly dark looks. They were both flanking Lily. 

Harry felt a stab of anger again. The little rat needed to take his eyes off his mum! 

Harry walked over to them, to be able to hear them and watch them interact with each other. 

Sirius was telling a harrowing tale of having Mrs. Norris after him when he had gone on a midnight snack raid to the kitchens. 

"She could smell me!" he said. "And there I was with a chicken leg in one hand and a sandwich in the other, with my leg in the trick step, and the invisibility cloak falling off me and I could hear Peeves bouncing around, being chased toward me by Filch!" 

James was howling. Lupin was shaking his head and grinning. Pettigrew was staring at Sirius with envy and Lily looked slightly doubtful. 

"Are you sure that happened?" she asked. 

Sirius looked incensed. "Of course that is what happened!" 

Lily shrugged, still eyeing him with doubt. "You have quite a number of adventures on your own, with no one to see you, or verify them." 

Sirius's eyes widened at her accusation. "Are you saying I'm making them up?!" 

"Well," Lupin said, looking at Sirius with a barely concealed grin, "you do tend to over-dramatize things." 

Wounded, Sirius folded his arms and turned his head, sulking. "I refuse to tell you all what happened then!" 

"Oh, come on!" James said. 

He would have said more but the door opened and the teacher came in. 

The Slytherins groaned as he sent them a look of pure despite. Harry was taken aback. Even Snape didn't look at him like that! 

Several Gryffindor's snickered. 

The man looked at the Gryffindors and his face softened. "The Gryffindors will be concocting a mild poisoning potion, and the Slytherins," he spat out the name, "will be making a healing potion. Can't have future He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named supporters knowing how to poison people after all." And there he looked right at Snape. 

Snape folded his arms and leaned back slightly. He was sneering. The first time Harry had seen him do it for real. "I already know how to poison people, Professor Mayor," he said, as if discussing the weather. "It's quite easy really. All you need..." 

"SHUT UP!" Mayor screamed. "I'll be handing the Gryffindors their list of ingredients and make sure that none of you let a Slytherin see it. I'll write the Slytherin's potion on the board." 

Harry was rather surprised to see that his dad, mum, Lupin, and even Sirius looked at Mayor with a hint of dislike on their face. 

"He shouldn't be treating kids from his own house like that," Lily muttered. "McGonagall may be strict but she isn't mean." 

Professor Mayor was head of Slytherin House? He hated them and they hated him. That couldn't be good. 

As they prepared their potions, Sirius relented and started to tell everyone how he had gotten out of the mess with Mrs. Norris and Filch. 

"So," he said, dropping cut up caterpillars into the potion, "I managed to put the sandwich down behind me, out of anyone's sight, unless they were coming down the stairs, and pulled out my wand. I zapped the stair and I sprang free. I grabbed the sandwich and ran for all I was worth!" 

Lily opened her mouth when a scream of pain from the Slytherin side brought their heads around. 

Snape was standing with his hand over his cauldron, it was hissing and bubbling while a substance that looked like water dripped off of it. 

Evan Rosier was looking awkward and guilty. 

"What happened?" Mayor asked, not seeming to care that Snape was in pain, as he stared wrathfully at Rosier. 

"I dropped the dissolving potion on myself," Snape explained, not even looking at Rosier. 

"Are you sure?" Mayor hissed, still looking at Rosier. 

"Yes," Snape snapped. "Can you get me the healing potion? You do have some in case this happened, don't you?" 

Mayor looked at Snape and then at his hand. "Go to the hospital wing." 

Snape's eyes were watering. Lily gasped and so did Harry. Bone could be seen through red bloody sores that had started to appear. 

"My hand might be gone before I reach it," Snape said, staring at Mayor with disgust. 

Mayor reluctantly went to his desk and picked up a green potion, he slowly brought it over to Snape. Florence grabbed it from Mayor and poured it over Snape's hand. 

The hand hissed worse and bubbled, but it was healing, at least Harry assumed so. Florence detached Rosier's robe sleeves with her wand and wrapped Snape's hand up in them. 

The entire class was completely silent as everyone stared at Mayor and Snape. Snape was still in a lot of pain. 

"Sit down, Mr. Snape. You can go to the hospital wing later since you refused my offer earlier. Besides," he sneered, looking at Snape like he was something that needed to be eradicated, "you are a supporter of You-Know-Who if I ever saw one and the medicine there should be used to treat worthy people. Not scum like you!" 

"Supporter of Voldemort?" Snape asked. 

Mayor flinched at the name. 

"I'm not a supporter of his," Snape said, grinning evilly. "I'm his son, haven't you heard? He's grooming me to take over for him when he decides to retire and take up basket weaving as a Muggle on an island somewhere in the Pacific. I shall be called Lord Severus one day." 

Several Slytherins fell over laughing while James, Lupin, Lily, and even Pettigrew gave Sirius a dark look. He grinned weakly at them. 

"He's going to the hospital wing now," Florence said as she walked up to Snape. 

"And I'm going to Dumbledore," Lestrange said, getting up with Perthia, and heading to the door. 

Mayor glared at them. "Sit back down!" 

Neither Perthia or Lestrange listened to him. They kept walking and went out the door. 

Florence started to help Snape, when Mayor grabbed her arm and flung her away. 

"Get off..." 

His words were cut off as Mayor was flung backwards across the room to land, with a sickening crunch, against the far wall. Florence's wand was out, her eyes deranged, and her body shaking. 

"DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!" she shrieked. "I'LL KILL YOU NEXT TIME! DO YOU HEAR ME! I'LL KILL YOU! AVA..." 

Her wand flew out of her hand and into Snape's. Harry looked at him. Ava.. Had she been about to say Avada Kadavra? 

Snape pocketed both wands, grabbed her arm with his good hand and strode out with her. He looked pale and Harry knew it wasn't from the pain in his hand. 

It wasn't just Rosier that could be provoked into killing. 

Snape was the only one that seemed to notice what had just happened. 

Several Gryffindors ran over to attend Mayor. Harry's parents and friends weren't among them. 

Sirius looked down at Mayor with loathing. "I can't believe he just let Snape stand there like that. Sure he's a grease ball but that's no excuse." 

Lily looked upset. "I've never seen Florence lose control like that.." 

"I have," James said sadly. "She can't stand it when people shove her around physically or yell at her. It freaks her out and she goes ballistic. Reminds me of one of my childhood friend's cousins. It turned out she was being abused." 

Lily didn't look surprised. "I figured. From some of the things I heard her say. I wonder why Severus doesn't freak her out. He's not exactly nice looking. Some first years even asked me if he was a vampire once." 

"That may be the reason," Lupin said. "He doesn't remind her of anything and he doesn't exactly act like a normal person." 

Sirius snorted his agreement. 

Harry smiled slightly. 

The door opened and Dumbledore came in, followed by Lestrange and Perthia. Mayor was up and walked to Dumbledore. 

"As you can see the Slytherins need to be disciplined," he snarled. 

Dumbledore looked to Perthia and Lestrange and then back at Mayor. There was no friendly twinkle in his eye and he looked haggard. 

"Did you let Severus Snape stand there with dissolving potion on his hand and only decide to help him when he yelled at you?" 

Mayor bristled at Dumbledore's accusatory tone of voice. "There wasn't much on him!" 

"The whole bottle!" Rosier said. "You could see bone before our esteemed head of house would lower himself to help one of his own students. I'm sure if it had been a Gryffindor he would have been over there in a second and then let them have the rest of the week out of classes!" 

Dumbledore nodded towards the door. "May I speak with you privately?" 

The Slytherins grinned. 

The talk wasn't very long and Mayor came back in, looking smug. "He can't find me a replacement," he said, glaring at the Slytherins. "No one in their right mind would head a house of Slytherins. You are all evil and just waiting for the chance to prove it." 

Rosier cracked his knuckles. "Two and a half years left and then the Dark Lord will allow us to join him. I suggest you start working on your will because you will be my first victim." 

It wasn't just the Gryffindors that turned to stare, shocked, at Rosier. He didn't seem to notice. His eyes were glued to Mayor's face, his own face twisted in fury, hate, and a lust for blood. 

Trolls, Rosier was half-troll. They were bloodthirsty, like giants. Not as bad, since most trolls were too stupid to be much of a threat, but Rosier wasn't stupid. And he had joined Voldemort, just like he promised. 

Harry shivered. 

The memories swirled. 


	5. Half-Dementors, Libraries, and Veritaser...

Body Reviewers: Thank you! {_Christene, Meghan, buffpie, and Tatiana, vez, BeckySharp, insaneicklecora, MikeySoccerChick, Blackletter (I like your Fade To Black story by the way), Polaris, Kay BohemianSoul_: thanks for the kind words!} {_Rosmerta_: I have a thing for trolls and half-breeds of the bad sort so I had to include one. I just wish we could see more of Crabbe and Goyle.} {_Rosmerta, Clio, Tia'RaHu_: Wilkes demanded to be a girl, mainly because I noticed that Wilkes is the only one of the five Death Eaters that Sirius names as Snape's gang whose gender is never revealed. I kind of wondered if JKR did that on purpose. And I wanted him to have a girlfriend and not to have a Lily fixation.} {_Tia'RaHu_: I just suddenly realized one day that Snape had betrayed all of his friends, no wonder why he is so miserable. And no one on the good side seems to like or even trust him but Dumbledore. That's got to be hard, doing what is right and being despised by everyone on the "good" side! I would be miserable too in that situation. I shudder to think what's going to happen with him if Dumbledore dies. He'll be totally alone.} {_Clio (I love your Peace On Earth story)_: that is my aim, to show that they got dragged into it, not stepped into it, I know what its like to be on the outside looking in and its not easy and can be very confusing. And no he doesn't hate James yet, that's coming though, he is jealous of him right now though.} {_Rosmerta, vez_: Professor Mayor has a reason believe it or not. It will be revealed in one of the end chapters.} {_RavenDancer_: my favorite author. Thanks for the compliment about painting visuals with words, I try!} 

_Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings_. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times

by: _Taran_

Chapter 5: Half-Dementors, Libraries, and Veritaserum 

Harry slipped the hood of the invisibility cloak off his head as the memories swirled around him, feeling silly for still wearing the thing, but he kept it on, not knowing what would happen if he took it off and dropped it. He might never get it back. 

"Don't you think you've had enough frogs?" came Florence's voice. 

Harry looked around and smiled as he saw the trio coming down a hallway in Hogwarts, towards him. He was beginning to really like these people. 

Rosier was eating out of a box of frogs, again, and his mouth was surrounded in melted chocolate. Didn't he ever get enough? Maybe he needed it though. He was huge and huge people needed food. 

Snape was trying to get a frog out of the box but Rosier was holding it too high up, but that didn't keep Snape from trying. 

"Give me!" he whined as he jumped up, trying to knock it out of Evan's hands. 

"Mine," Rosier said, stuffing yet another one in his mouth. 

Snape stopped, pouting, his lower lip stuck out. He folded his arms over his scrawny chest and scowled darkly at Rosier. Harry had to laugh. 

"Come on," he whimpered, dropping to his knees and begging, his hands clasped together and extended at Rosier. "Just one," he held up one finger, and batted his eyes at Rosier, his face contorted in a pleading expression. 

Harry laughed. No one would ever believe this! The most feared and terrfying teacher at Hogwarts begging for chocolate frogs in the middle of a hallway, on the ground no less. 

"Bow to me," Rosier said. "Call me Lord Evan." 

Snape did so! "Lord Evan, please give your humble servant a chocolate frog," he murmured, sounding humble, like he was in the presence of a great individual as he flattened his chest to the floor with his arms fully extended on the ground. "I beg of you!" 

Evan put his huge foot on the small of Snape's back. "I don't know," he said. "I only have one left." 

"Please, my Lord." Snape begged. 

Harry wondered if Ron or Hermione would ever go for doing that. Wouldn't that be a funny thing to do around Draco? 

"What did you do with that mushroom you took out of the Forbidden Forest last month?" Evan asked. "You never told me. Tell me and you get the frog." 

"Do I have to?" he muttered. 

"Yes!" 

"I made a potion for Filch," Snape said slowly, "because his cat wasn't feeling good. We have an agreement. I make potions for him sometimes and I can brew my own potions in his office that take awhile to make, so Professor Mayor, that git, won't know. Filch is cool." 

Harry grinned. Only Snape would think that. He probably thought it was funny that Filch went around terrorizing students. 

"I thought the mushroom was poisonous?" Evan asked, confused. 

"Only to human skin. It's actually safe ingested. Well, sort of. It'll get you sick. But cats don't have a problem with it. Now give me the frog!" 

Evan removed his foot and handed the frog to Snape. Snape sat up and bit the head of triumphantly, and chewed it up. 

Hearing the sound of papers and quills dropping, being quite familiar with the sound, Harry turned. A group of first and second years were huddled together, looking nervously at Snape and his group as they tried to collect their fallen things. 

Snape hopped up, wiping his chocolate stained hands on his robes, and went to help them. He bent down but that was as far as he got. 

The first and second years screeched like that banshee from the wardrobe in Harry's third year. 

"Noooooo!" one yelled, dropping everything and running. 

Another one just stood there, shaking, his hands clasped to his mouth. 

Two of the second years took their wands out. 

"Stay away from us!" they said, covering their own mouths and backing away. 

Snape stood up, looking hurt. "What's wrong with you all?" 

"You're a half-dementor," one of the wand second years said, looking terrified at her own daring. "Please don't suck our souls out." 

Snape turned to Evan and Florence who had come up behind him. They rolled their eyes, Snape scowled, his eyes slightly narrowed. 

"Who told you that?" Snape asked softly, stepping away from the group. He was mad! Harry, having had plenty of experience being around an angry Snape, could tell. 

The second year backed up a step. "It was that boy who hangs around James Potter." She said Harry's dad's name reverently and Harry grinned. "The b-black haired one," she finished, stuttering. 

"Black," Snape snarled. "Well, he wants a half-dementor, so he's going to get one." 

With a swoosh, Snape turned around and swept away, his black robe billowing angrily out around him. 

Harry followed, glancing at Snape every once in a while. It bothered him! Being called those names really bothered him! Harry made a mental note to squash any rumors that he heard about Snape not being fully human. And there were usually several of those running around. Was it true, though? Snape was awfully secretive about where he came from. 

Evan and Florence were having to hurry to keep up with him. 

"Give it to him, Sev," Evan cheered. "Where would Potty and his gang be anyway?" 

Potty? Potty?! Harry was furious and trying not to smile at the same time. Draco or Peeves, he couldn't remember which, had called him that to, but for some reason Harry took less exception to it this time. 

"In the library," Snape said. "I saw them there earlier, doing their homework." 

Harry hurried along after them as Snape started to go faster, as if afraid he would miss them. 

They reached the library and spotted them, sitting together at a large table near the entrance. Harry drank in the sight of his parents and friends. They were everywhere in this Pensieve! Too bad there wasn't a way to remove Pettigrew. 

"Black," Snape snarled, striding to him, flanked by Florence and Evan. 

Evan cracked his knuckles and glared down at Sirius. 

"So," Snape growled, leaning over the table, his hands flat on the surface. Snape was standing between Pettigrew, who looked terrified, and Lupin, who was gazing at Sirius. Sirius glared at Snape. "I've been downgraded, have I?" 

Sirius chuckled weakly while everyone else glared at him. 

"What is Severus this week?" James asked. 

"A half-dementor," Snape snarled before Sirius could answer. Suddenly, a twinkle entered into Snape's eyes. "And we know what dementors are famous for." 

Lily stifled a laugh, stuffing her fist into her mouth. 

"So what do you say, Black?" Snape continued. "Want to check to see if I'm really a half-dementor?" 

The others, seeing what Snape was getting at, started to smile. Except Sirius. The color drained from his face. He looked around for help as Severus grabbed his shoulders and hauled him up. 

Yelping, Sirius broke away and fell backward. He laid there, struggling to get his legs untangled from the chair as he glared up at Snape. 

"What's the matter?" Snape asked. "We have to make sure I don't have the power of a real dementor, so stand still so I can give you the dementor's kiss." 

Sirius looked at his friends, they were smiling at him but not helping. 

"You got yourself into this," Lupin said. "Get yourself out of it." 

The rest nodded their heads. 

Snape grinned and then scrambled over the table. Sirius's eyes popped out of his head and he ran, screaming, "NOOO!" 

Harry ran after them both as Snape darted after Sirius, right on Sirius's heels. They ran out of the library, Madam Pince was screaming at them, and down a hallway. 

Harry glanced in back of him, everyone had followed, wanting to know, like Harry, if Snape would catch Sirius to give him the "kiss". Harry was just glad Evan had followed Snape to begin with or he would not have had this memory in his Pensieve. Even though it was his godfather being chased and Harry loved him, it was funny. 

"Help!" Sirius screamed, running down a flight of stairs. 

"Come back here!" Snape yelled. "I have to give you the dementor's kiss!" 

Several first and second years, and even some third and fourth, gasped and ran back into classrooms or flattened themselves against walls, looking white and terrified. This was better than when Fred and George went around telling everyone he was a seriously evil dark wizard. 

Sirius ran into a classroom, Professor McGonagall's, Harry realized, and cowered behind her. Luckily it seemed to be her planning period since no one but her was in the room. 

"Yes?" she asked tiredly as Snape and the rest came into the room. 

"Black thinks I'm a half-dementor," Snape explained. "I just wanted to check to see if he was right by giving him the dementor's kiss." 

McGonagall glanced back at Sirius, his face was sweaty from running and he smiled shyly at her. 

"That sounds like a good idea," she said, getting up, and leaving the classroom. 

"What?!" Sirius yelled after her. 

Evan stood in the doorway. There was no way Sirius could get around his bulk and Sirius knew it. 

"Running to a teacher?" Snape scoffed. "I thought the great prankster Sirius Black was above that." 

Sirius scowled. 

"Close your eyes," Snape said, his wand suddenly out. Cords shot out of it to bind Sirius. 

Snape came ever closer, Sirius couldn't move a muscle though he tried, and finally Sirius closed his eyes, every muscle in his face taut as Snape's face zeroed in on his. 

Snape motioned for Lily to come over. She did so and kissed Sirius on the lips. Sirius shrieked like a girl and his eyes flew open. Lily was standing before him, grinning from ear to ear. 

"Was it that bad?" she asked. 

"Why, you..." Sirius sputtered as the cords dissolved away. "I'm going to kill you! All of you!" 

Harry slapped his leg, laughing so hard he was bent over. Sirius's face when he thought Snape had kissed him was priceless! Maybe he could grab a camera and take a picture, if cameras worked in Pensieves. 

Harry was going to have to find a way to tease Sirius about this. It was too great of a story not to share with Ron and Hermione, either. 

James laid a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Come on, we have Quidditch practice. You'll be safe from Severus up in the sky!" 

Snape made a face. "Ha, Ha." 

Sirius, being lead out of the room by James, sent a withering look back at Snape over his shoulder. Snape blew him a kiss. Sirius huffed and turned away. 

The memories swirled. 

"We shouldn't be doing this," Evan said as Harry found himself in the corridor outside the Potions classroom and office. 

"We're Slytherins," Florence said, shrugging, as she waved her wand at the Office door. "We are supposed to use any means to achieve our ends. And breaking into Mayor's Office to get the Veritaserum he's storing for Dumbledore is any means." 

"I can't believe that idiot and Dumbledore had a conversation like that in the Teacher's Lounge. Don't they know students often hide in the wardrobe to overhear what's going on?" 

"But they checked it, remember?" Florence grinned. "Potty's invisibility cloak sure came in handy," she chuckled. "He didn't even know it was missing. Ah," she said, getting misty eyed, "the joys of being in Slytherin!" 

Harry rolled his eyes. No wonder why Snape favored the Slytherins so much, he _was_ a Slytherin and so were his friends. But Harry liked them anyway. Too bad there was so much House rivalry, the Slytherins seemed pretty cool once you got past their gruff exteriors and rather unattractive looks. Harry wouldn't have minded one of the nicer Slytherins as a friend. Evan and Florence, and even Snape, were good candidates. But remembering, Harry shook his head. Florence and Evan were dead. And Snape, well, it was best not to mess with him. 

The door opened and Florence turned to Evan. 

"If Mayor comes by, use the Memory charm." 

"It might make him lose a lot of memory," Evan said doubtfully. "I don't have much control over it." 

Florence shrugged. "Who cares? Mayor's a git." 

Harry grinned. He could imagine Ron saying exactly that if they ever had to use a memory charm on Snape. 

Florence slipped in the office and then back out, a tiny bottle in her hand. There was barely any in there. "I only took three drops so Mayor wouldn't know anyone had stolen any. He really should monitor that stuff better." 

Harry wondered why they had stolen it and then he remembered. They wanted to find out where Snape lived. Harry smiled. No wonder why Snape had had no trouble threatening Harry with the stuff, it had been used on him before. 

Evan and Florence walked into a classroom, it was empty except for Snape who was eating from a box of chocolate frogs at a desk, his back to them. Evan shut and locked the door, and then sent a spell at it. 

Florence dripped the Veritaserum onto a peppermint toad and walked to Snape. 

"Here," she said casually. "I thought you might like a peppermint one to go with the chocolate." 

Snape took it and ate it. 

Evan and Florence winked at each other. 

Harry settled himself on a chair, this should be interesting. 

"Where do you live?" Florence asked. 

"The Dark Forest," Snape admitted and then clapped a hand to his mouth. "You didn't!" 

"Sorry!" Florence said, looking shocked. "The Dark Forest! But... that's worse than the Forbidden One. Dark Witches and Wizards live there, the worst ones of the worst ones, and children are always being eaten by the monsters that live in there!" 

Snape rolled his eyes. "There is only one Dark Witch in the Forest. Melusine, she's a Seidr." 

Florence gasped. "A Seidr?!" 

Evan's eyes were huge. "We have a Seidr in England?!" 

"Yes," Snape bristled. "They aren't evil! Melusine just teaches the people that come into the Dark Forest how to survive in it. That's what Seidrs basically go around doing. Start Dark Forests colonies and then protect them as best they can from intruders that would hurt those that lived in them. And you have to know the Dark Arts to do it. There are werewolves, redcaps, grindylows, kelpies, and a ton of poisonous plants and animals that live in it. It's dangerous, very much so. But it keeps people away. And that is good." 

"Is that why you aren't afraid of going into the Forbidden Forest?" Evan asked. 

Snape nodded. "A number of the eight year old kids from the Dark Forest wouldn't have a problem going into the Forbidden one. Not everyone in the Dark Forest can do magic though. Those that can't aren't left alone however, too dangerous. I can do magic though, really well." 

Evan looked envious. "So that's how you could handle that werewolf?" 

"Yeah, they are fairly easy if you paralyze them like I did. But it takes practice and you have to be fairly good at magic." 

"Who lives there?" Florence asked, sitting down. 

Harry was slightly confused. He had never heard of a Dark Forest before. But, Harry had found that every year he heard something new. He hadn't even heard about Azkaban until his third year. And his fourth year was the first he had heard about Death Eaters. 

"Unwanted and thrown away people," Snape unwillingly answered, sucking on a frog and glaring at Evan and Florence. 

"Thrown away?" Florence asked. 

Snape nodded, giving up trying not to answer their questions. "Insane people, people that aren't too bright, deformed people that are ashamed to be seen, crippled people, blind people, (they can't do magic since they can't see what is happening and you have to be able to see with magic), deaf ones, (deaf people can't do magic either since they can't say the spells), ones that aren't attractive, werewolves, half-breeds," he glanced at Evan, "that the parents are ashamed of having created." 

Evan looked away. "Like my mum," he snarled. "At least my dad kept me." 

"Your mum was human?" Florence asked, startled. 

Evan shrugged. "Yeah. She was one of those idiot people that wanted to thwart society and fall in love with who they wanted to. So she did and then found out that it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. She left right after she had me. Embarrassed and ashamed of having been with a troll. She doesn't even acknowledge it to this day. I might kill her one day." 

And he said that with such conviction and certainty that Harry swallowed. Maybe he wouldn't want Evan for a friend. 

Snape's eyebrows rose. "Don't, Evan. She's not worth Azkaban." 

Evan smiled. "Since you're under Veritaserum I guess I can't say you're just saying that to make me feel better." 

Snape smiled slightly. 

"I wish my parents had thrown me away into the Dark Forest," Florence said, putting her folded arms on the table and staring at them. "Maybe then, someone would love me." 

Snape and Evan looked at her. Snape gently put a hand on her arm. "I love you," he said softly. His voice was so warm and caring. Harry had never heard it that way. What had happened to him? Sirius's prank wouldn't have done this to him, at this moment in time he probably would have thought it was funny. 

Florence looked away, tears filling her eyes, as she took Snape's hand in both of hers. 

Harry watched her. The Dursley's were mean but they had never really touched him, he had never gotten a bruise from them at least, just from Dudley. But Dudley was his age, and the Dursleys were relatives and not his parents. Being abused by your own parents had to hurt. It was probably worse than not having them. At least he could imagine that his parents would have loved and cared for him. Florence didn't have the luxury of imagination. 

"Why don't the parents abandon the kids at orphanages?" Evan asked, rubbing Florence's back. 

Snape shrugged, still looking at Florence with concern. "Some do. But Muggles have police to try to find the ones abandoned at Muggle orphanages, and the Ministry of Magic tries to find the parents of abandoned babies and most of the parents don't want a scandal. Which means the evidence, the baby or child, has to be gotten rid of and the parent doesn't want to kill the baby or child themselves so they take them to the Dark Forest and hope that either a monster will kill it or a Dark Witch or Wizard will kill it and use the remains in their dark magic." 

Harry was disgusted, especially since he knew there were people who would do that. The Weasleys wouldn't do something like that but Harry wouldn't put it past Lucius Malfoy. 

Snape suddenly smiled. "There are a lot of families in it now, though. Kids that have been born in it are now having kids born in it." 

"Are you a native?" Florence asked softly, tracing Snape's palm with the tip of her finger. 

Snape winked. "Yep. Born in it. Both parents abandoned, though." 

"Why?" Evan asked. 

Snape scowled. "My dad was born deaf to a pure-blood family that felt having a child that was basically going to be a squib was too much of a burden for them to bear. Ashamed of it. They tried to raise him but couldn't handle it. They left him and claimed he got kidnapped. He was taken in by a.." Snape suddenly grinned hugely. "You aren't going to believe it!" 

"What!?" Evan, Florence, and Harry asked. Harry blushed. What was with him? He felt like he was living this instead of just watching it. 

"A half-dementor!" 

Harry choked. A half-dementor! He didn't know those things existed. Had Sirius? 

"How?" Evan asked. Harry had opened his mouth to ask that very question and closed it again, shaking his head at himself. 

"This insane guy, and I do mean he was insane, lots of those in the Dark Forest, (they are very closely watched though), fell in love with a dementor. She was a fairly tame one though, thank goodness. His emotions were so screwy that the dementor couldn't feed off of him so he was safe. She might have thought he was a dementor too since they are blind. Anyway they had a child, a little girl. The insane guy raised her with the dementor." 

Snape laughed. "Grandma, I do call the half-dementor that," Snape winked, "hates to hear laughter. When she baby-sits us we are all silent, except my nine-year-old sister, Katrina. If we laugh or sing or act happy she will swoop down on us and kiss our mouths; trying to suck our soul out but she can't! That's why she liked my dad so much. He couldn't make noise. She's scary looking, though. Grayish skin and her mouth has little stubs as teeth. And her hands are claw-like. Her eyes are mostly grown over with skin, she can see well enough, though." 

"What about your mum?" Florence asked, sitting back and releasing Snape's hand, wiping her eyes. Her voice trembled a little. 

Snape quit smiling, going back to eating the last frog. "We don't know who abandoned her. Muggle or magic folk? She was badly burnt when they found her and then they noticed she was deformed. They guessed someone tried to burn her when they realized it." Harry gasped. Burned a baby? Just because it was deformed? He had read a newspaper article about that happening once, though, so it did happen. Mr. Dursley had seemed to think it hadn't been such a bad idea since the deformed baby wouldn't be very productive in later life. He hadn't thought it should have been burnt, just disposed of somehow. "She was raised by a half-troll," Snape continued. "An aggressive one," he glanced up at Evan, "worse than you. But he loved her. Grandpa comes to visit occasionally but he found a troll wife and lives with her. They have ten kids now." 

Harry whistled. And he thought the Weasleys had a bunch. 

"Mum's great!" Snape said. "A bit weird though." 

Evan and Florence laughed. 

Harry stared at Snape. A deformed mother and a deaf father? 

"Do you have any siblings?" Evan asked. 

Snape nodded. "Two. A fourteen-year-old, she's at Hogwarts by the way. And a nine-year-old." 

"Whose the fourteen-year-old?" 

Snape grimaced, he didn't want to spill it but he had to, the Veritaserum made him. "Narcissa Jones." 

Harry jerked. Narcissa? Malfoy's wife!? Or maybe another girl named Narcissa. But that wasn't exactly a normal name. Was that why Snape favored Draco so much? Because Draco was his nephew? But Harry couldn't see Lucius marrying someone from the Dark Forest. Unless he didn't know. It didn't sound like something a person went around admitting, so maybe he didn't. Harry had a headache. 

"Narcissa?" Evan frowned. "But her last name is Jones." 

Snape scowled. "After seeing the trouble I've had for being so ugly we decided it would be best if no one knew we were related. Plus," he blushed. "I'm studying to become a Seidr and if I'm found out it would be best if no one knew we were related. She could get in trouble by association. Learning to become a Seidr is punishable by death." 

Harry blinked. What was a Seidr? Punishable by death? And Snape was still doing it? Sounded like Snape. 

"You're studying to become a Seidr?" Florence asked, stunned. 

Snape nodded. "Been studying since I was five. Melusine picked me out because I looked so intimidating as a child and was quite intelligent. Would have picked my dad but he's deaf. He looks just like me," Snape smiled at them both. "Devilishly handsome, eh!" 

Florence lifted an eyebrow. "I won't comment on that last part." Snape laughed. "But is that why you are so obsessed with the dark arts? Spending your free time in the library except when me and Evan drag you away to do fun stuff?" 

"Yeah," Snape said. "It takes years. I'll be fifty before I'm one and that's if I'm lucky. Most are around seventy." 

"But?" Evan said, concentrating. "I thought underage wizardry was illegal. And no Magic during the summer holiday?" 

Snape waggled his eyebrows again. "It is illegal. Seidr's have something, I don't know what yet, around and in the Dark Forest that makes it so no one can tell Magic is being used in it. It's very illegal. But we have to have it." 

"Can I stay with you this summer?" Florence asked softly. "In the Dark Forest with your family?" 

"I don't know," Snape said quietly. 

Florence grabbed his hand. "Please!" she begged. "I can't go home. Please! I can't go back! I just can't do it anymore! I can't!" She broke down, sobbing, into his hand. "I can't! Don't make me! Please take me with you!" 

Snape bit his lower lip and looked at Evan. Evan shrugged, looking helpless. 

"What about your parents?" Snape asked. "They are high up in the Ministry. They'll have everyone looking for you." 

Florence lifted her head, her face rigid with anger. "Yes, they would, wouldn't they," she snarled. "Anything to keep me down. Keep me in my place. Well," she sat back, her face calm but the skin around her eyes was tight and her eyes were angry. "I'm going to be joining the Dark Lord soon, like Evan. And then I'm going to kill them," she laughed, a high-pitched one. "Kill them both and my sisters too. They got to go to Beuxbatons because they are attractive and pretty and mum wanted them to have the best education in the best place. She went there! They won't be pretty for very much longer, though." she growled. "I may not kill them, just disfigure them and let them know how it feels to be hated because of the way you look." 

Harry looked at Snape. Snape swallowed and made a quick decision. "If we can sneak off the train before it makes it to London we should be okay. We can walk to the Dark Forest. I'll just tell Narcissa not to wait for me. We'll figure out what to do from there, figure out how to get you back at Hogwarts without an uproar for sixth year." 

Florence nodded, suddenly happy again. "Okay." 

"Can I come?" Evan asked, almost shyly. 

"Sure," Snape said. "But, your dad is nice." 

Evan smiled. "I'm fifteen, Sev. Young in human years but that's the equilavant of a twenty-five year old in troll years. I'm an adult and my dad thinks I should be starting a family." Evan laughed. "Every summer he takes me to prospective troll girls' houses. It's getting annoying. Plus," he added darkly. "I'm a half-breed and most troll girls want a full troll and human girls want full humans." 

Florence put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find somebody. Maybe in this Dark Forest?" 

Evan brightened up. "Yeah. If your mum found someone then I should be able to." 

Snape picked the empty chocolate frog box off the table and shook it. "Since you all three are coming, let's put everything in two trunks and fill the third with sweets. Most of the Dark Forest kids have never tasted sweets before. Too expensive. Everyone's poverty stricken there." 

The memories swirled. Harry felt cold. The three of them seemed happy but there was an underlying bitterness in all of them. Just usually quite well hidden. Why wasn't anyone noticing there was something wrong with them? Didn't anyone care? 


	6. Trains, Red Hands, and Green Feet

Body _Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings_. 

_Reviewers: Sorry if I've confused anyone about Snape being related to a dementor, his father was adopted by a half-dementor so he actually doesn't have any in him, though I really, really like the idea._

The Dark Past: Confusing Times

by: _Taran_

Author's Note: _I love reading the reviews, so even if you have reviewed already, go ahead and write another review! The comments really do help me write and figure out what to clear up and to remember what needs to be followed up._

__

Chapter 6: Trains, Red Hands and Green Feet 

Harry found himself on the Hogwarts Express in the same compartment as Evan, who took up a whole side by himself, and Florence and Snape. They all looked nervous and Harry noticed that they had their trunks gripped firmly in their hands. 

"Are you sure about this?" Evan asked, in a voice that was the whiniest Harry had ever heard it to be. 

"Of course!" Snape said, looking quite offended, but he still looked nervous. 

"If we die I'm going to haunt you," Evan asserted, getting up. 

Snape shrugged and slowly moved to the door. He slid it back, poked his head out and then turned to look over his shoulder. 

"The food lady is on the other carriage, no one will see us, come on!" 

Harry wondered what they were up to. All three of them slipped hoods over their heads, so their faces were totally covered, and then hefted their trunks (no one seemed to own an owl) and left the compartment. 

They hurriedly made it to the very end of the train and Harry watched as all three of them stole out the rear door. Harry's mouth dropped. What were they up to? 

He tried to open the door but his hand just went through the doorknob; shrugging, Harry stepped through the door. Florence and Snape were huddled against the guard rail since Evan took up most of the platform by himself. Their hair was being whipped around violently as their cloaks and robes threatened to tear off their bodies. It was a good thing all three of them seemed to wear Muggle clothing underneath their robes. 

"Okay!" Snape shouted over the roar of the wind. "I'm going to enchant all three trunks, and on the count of three, after I say three, grab onto them and yell Up!" 

They were going to jump off the train! Were they crazy?! And Snape had gotten mad at him for flying a car! 

Snape took out his wand and tapped each trunk. They rose so they were above the guard rail and hovered there. Each person had both hands on the handle of their respective trunk. 

"1, 2, 3!" Snape screamed. "Up!" 

As all three shot up to hover in the air, the train sped away. Harry blinked. He wasn't on the train anymore, but on the ground below them, on a railroad track. 

"It worked!" Snape said, trying to rub his stomach and then accidentally letting go and plummeting to the ground. He rolled when he hit and came to a stop, sitting up, looking slightly green. 

"Oops," he muttered. Snape waved his wand at the trunks and they slowly lowered themselves down. Harry noticed Snape's hand was a bit scratched. 

Evan landed, dropped his trunk, and hauled Snape up by the front of his robes. "That was a close one," Evan grumbled as Florence came up behind him. 

She was beaming and didn't seem to care that her hair was a rat's nest. "Thank you, Severus," she said, hugging him. 

"Ewww!" Evan said and turned away. 

Harry followed suit. They had started to kiss! 

"You can look now," Florence said, laughing. 

Harry blushed and turned around and then remembered she hadn't been talking to him. He wasn't actually with them. Shaking his head, Harry wondered if he should get out of the Pensieve soon. He had no idea how long he had been in it and didn't now what time it was out of the Pensieve. He didn't have his watch on, having taken it off before he went to bed. But he didn't know why Snape had joined Voldemort. He would stay until then and then get out. 

"Well, let's go!" Snape said, grinning a bit foolishly, as he slung an arm around Florence and started to walk away from the railroad tracks and into the forested hills that surrounded the tracks on both sides. 

With a wand tap from Evan, the trunks floated up and started to follow them. 

"How far away is this place?" Evan asked, having to keep his stride down so he didn't outdistance Snape and Florence. 

"A two day's journey from here," Snape answered. "I brought plenty of food," he added, patting his cloak. "Except for you Evan. I guess you could catch your own." 

Evan nodded. "Yeah, I much prefer catching my own food to having it served me. That's the only thing I don't like about Hogwarts. Students don't get to catch and kill their supper." 

Snape laughed, taking his arm off Florence. She was busily trying to straighten her hair out with her fingers as they walked. 

"I think most students are quite glad of that!" 

Evan smiled as he looked back. "Especially you! I saw how you cringed when we had to kill those slugs in Herbology and then made me and Florence do all the work." 

Snape looked affronted. "Slugs have every right to live just like people do!" 

"You don't seem to mind eating flobberworms," Florence teased, looking at him with a smile while her hands tried to pulled apart a rather nasty tangle. Snape didn't seem to care that his hair was a mess. Maybe it was so greasy that it could untangle itself if given enough time. 

"Flobberworms?" Evan said, stopping "Those things are edible?" He looked disgusted, and frankly, so was Harry. 

How could Snape eat flobberworms? 

"They're very tasty once you get used to their strange flavor, and very filling. And they're free," Snape added. "Free food is always good." 

Harry didn't feel quite so disgusted anymore. He knew what it was like to be hungry. Not a pleasant feeling. 

"Sorry," Florence said sheepishly. 

The memories swirled. 

Harry was standing in a small clearing in a forest, right next to a laughing Snape. Snape was laughing so hard that he was on the ground, rolling around. Florence was sitting on a rock, looking confused and sleepy while Evan was standing and staring at his hands with a slightly dark look on his face. Then Harry noticed that Evan's hands were red! Bright red. 

"I caught you red-handed!" Snape laughed, holding his stomach. He was on his stomach, pounding the ground and Harry could see tears streaming down his face. 

"Ha, Ha, Ha," Evan muttered. 

"What happened?" Florence asked. 

"He tried... he tried... he tried to get in the... the trunk... the trunk of sweets," Snape spluttered out, gasping for breath in between laughs. 

"Evan!" Florence said, looking shocked and amused. "You promised!" 

"Yeah, well," Evan finished lamely while he stared down at Snape's form with annoyance. "I didn't get any!" 

Snape was slowly gaining control and rolled over onto his back and sat up, wiping his eyes. Dirt, grass, and twigs now adorned his hair and clothes. 

"Good thing I had charmed it against lock-pickers!" he smiled. 

"You did more than charm it, Sev," Florence giggled. "How did you turn his hands red?" 

Snape winked. "I'm creating a potion for Filch, to paint on the doorknobs of rooms that students aren't supposed to be in. The potion will turn the student a different color depending on the room they tried to get into. My first try is red for the kitchens. But," he said, waving to Evan, whose hands were now back to normal, "it doesn't last very long and only works on the hands. Filch will never be able to catch rule breakers unless I can make it last longer and turn their whole bodies the color. I painted it on the trunk lock." 

Evan shook his head and sat down. "You do realize that if you succeed all of the students will hate you." 

Snape shrugged. "By the time I perfect the potion I shall be long gone! Studying to be a Seidr in whatever country Melusine sends me to." 

Florence looked at him. "With me, right?" 

"Of course," Snape gently smiled. "Even Evan, if he wants." 

Florence looked at Evan. "Just separate residences." 

Evan snorted. "I wonder why?" he grinned, looking lewdly at Snape. 

Snape blushed purple. 

Evan slapped his thigh, his booming laughter dying out as the thick amount of trees around them swallowed the sound. 

"You three!" came the voice of a girl. 

Harry spun around and saw her; Narcissa Malfoy, or Jones as she was called at this point in time. She looked beautiful and happy. Her long blonde hair was carefully combed out and fell around her shoulders to her waist. Her pale blue eyes were just like Snape's, full of warmth. She was strangely enough wearing Muggle clothes. A dress. It came to her ankles and up to her neck, it even came to her wrists but it was beautiful; made of pale green material that shimmered as she walked. She wore no jewelry. 

"Dad was afraid you were hunched over the railroad track throwing up when I told him what you had planned, Severus," Narcissa informed Severus with a twinkle in her eye. 

Severus grinned and hugged her. "Glad to see you made it without your big brother to help you through the wilds of London." 

Narcissa tilted her head. "It was hard going, I assure you," she said as they started to follow her through the forest, keeping on what looked like a sort of worn path. "First I had to wrestle a cab to the ground before it would take me anywhere. Then the driver made me sing opera for him while he wrote love letters to his sweetheart, a dementor. And then..." 

"I get the point," Severus cut her off. "It was easy." 

Narcissa turned to him and nodded her head. "Plus grandpa came to pick me up when I wrote to mom and dad about what you were planning on doing." 

Severus stuck his tongue out at her. "I told you you needed help." 

Narcissa shrugged. 

Harry looked around him as the forest got darker and the sounds coming from it got scarier. It sounded worse than the Forbidden One. 

"Keep you shoes on at all times in the Dark Forest," Severus said. "Parasites and other nasties like to burrow up through feet." 

As he said this, he took off his own shoes. Harry stared. His feet were green! 

"Then why are you?" Evan asked, staring down at his feet. "And why are they green?" 

Severus waved his foot around. "Because Melusine puts a potion on our feet that makes them tough and impenetrable. It also dyes our feet green, though." 

"Oh. What about you?" Florence asked, nodding to Narcissa; noticing, Harry guessed, that she had shoes on. 

"She doesn't have it," Severus answered, looking at Narcissa with a smile. "So she has to wear shoes." 

"Why?" Evan asked. 

Both Severus and Narcissa shrugged vaguely. 

"Take off your cloak and robe too, they are going to get ripped up otherwise," Severus added. 

They did so. Harry grinned at Severus's shirt. A huge cobra, its hood puffed out, adorned the black T-shirt. He had written, in green paint across the bottom, _Slytherins Rule_. 

He needed to get a red shirt with a Griffin on it and write _Gryffindors Rule_ on the bottom of it. He wondered what Severus; Professor Snape, Harry chastised himself, not Severus; would do if he ever caught him wearing it? 

They tucked all their robes and cloaks into one of the trunks, Evan had to sit on the thing, and then went on their way again. The air got stuffier, it got darker, and Harry could feel his skin crawling. The spiders that Harry got glimpses of, the ones that crawled on the bark of trees, were bumpy and hairy and Harry didn't like them. The trees themselves weren't that great. They were gnarled, bent, and misshapen. The undergrowth was composed almost entirely of thorn bushes and brambles that trailed on the ground. There were no flowers or other niceties due to the lack of sunlight. 

Harry caught sight of a few animals, squirrels that looked seedy, deer that looked menacing, and some owls that looked annoyed at having people tramping around them during the day. 

Harry glanced in back of him and noticed that Evan and Florence where staying awfully close to Sever-, Snape, and then Harry realized that he was too. Shaking his head at himself, Harry boldly stepped away and then felt even stupider. This was a Pensieve, he didn't need to be bold. 

"This place is freaky!" Florence said. 

"This is nothing. We are at the edge of it," Snape smiled at them all. 

Harry shuddered. He had figured they were in the center of the thing. They continued to walk and it got darker, until Severus... Snape stopped and reached into one of the trunks that Evan hadn't sat on to close. He pulled out a bag and then reached into it, pulling out a feather that glowed bright blue. Harry blinked against the brightness until his eyes adjusted to it. 

"Feather from a Firebird!" Snape explained. "Melusine has a bunch of these and gives them to everyone that comes in here to live or is born here." 

Narcissa took hers, it was bright red, out of a pocket Harry hadn't noticed her dress had and slipped the cord it was attached to around her neck. Snape... Severus did the same for his. 

"This way," Severus explained, "our wands are still free to use." 

A far-off cry sent shivers through Harry and though he wasn't actually with them, he was glad Severus was armed. And gauging from the calm look on Narcissa's face, she could handle herself too. But, she would have had to. She had gone looking for Severus and his friends by herself. 

Harry relunctantly followed them, remembering what Severus had said about his family. A deaf father, a deformed and burned mother, a half-troll grandfather, and a half-dementor grandmother. Did Harry really want to see those people? 

But his feet carried him onwards and Harry had to remind himself, for what felt like the millionth time, he wasn't really here and they, most importantly, couldn't see him. Besides it would be cool to see how the people in the Dark Forest lived. 


	7. Swimming, Songs, and Seidr

Body _Disclaimer: don't own anything. All rights to J.K. Rowlings._

Author's Note: _For all of those who have asked, I do plan on showing Harry's reactions to what he has learned in the Pensieve when he gets out of it. It will also be more fully explored in the next series, the one set _right_ after this one._

The Dark Past: Confusing Times

by: _Taran_

Chapter 7: Swimming, Songs, and Seidr 

Harry watched a giant cockroach scurry across the ground in front of them and grimaced. He didn't mind spiders but roaches? Narcissa's foot was still in their air, as she had been about to step when it hurried past. She wasn't screaming or looking horrified, just... amused? 

"That thing's huge!" Evan said, pointing at the retreating insect. 

"The further you get in the Dark Forest, they bigger the cockroaches get. I've seen one as big as my forearm!" Severus said, as if it was the coolest thing in the world. 

Evan and Florence exchanged disgusted looks. 

Harry was just glad this was a Pensieve. 

They started off again and the sounds started to get scarier and closer; and the trees, if possible, looked even more menacing; and the insects, they were outsized and vicious looking. There were snakes too, and to Harry's total shock, Severus bent down next to one and started to speak with it! 

"You're a Parseltongue?" Florence asked, enviously. 

"Yep," Severus said, straightening up. "They keep the houses free of rats and mice in the Dark Forest so we have quite a respect for snakes and everyone has at least one pet house snake. And a pet spider to keep the insects down." 

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly at Severus. Is that why he had Draco set that snake on him in his second year, because Severus could handle it? He was going to have to learn that spell and set a snake on Severus and see what he did. And did anyone know that Severus was a Parseltongue? 

"I thought only descendants of Salazar Slytherin were Parseltongue's?" Evan asked. 

Severus shook his head. "No. It isn't a gift you go around mentioning to anybody though. Frank Longbottom is a Parseltongue, something that not even his parents know about. His mother would have a fit if she knew! She's a dangerous woman." 

Harry, having had too many surprises already to act stunned, just wondered if Neville was a Parseltongue, and he wondered how Severus knew Frank. 

Florence giggled. "I miss Frank." 

Evan rolled his eyes. "How could you miss that nut! Always dragging you two along in his schemes to uncover the truth that Professor Sprout was really an evil genius bent on world domination." 

Severus looked behind him. "I still think she is." 

Evan groaned while Florence giggled again, covering her mouth. 

"Figures," Evan groused. "What's Frank doing now anyway?" 

"Oh," Severus said, waving a hand. "Studying to become an Auret or Aurser..." 

"Auror," Narcissa corrected. 

Evan snorted. "Sounds like Frank." 

A glowing sphere could be seen up ahead and Harry followed the others to it. The sun! A hole had been cut into the canopy and the sun was shining down through it. Directly on a small ramshackle house and the surrounding garden. 

A young girl, wearing jeans that were blue at the top and green below the knees, was standing on the doorstep of the house, her red shirt was bleached in several places. She held a wand and was waving excitedly to the five of them. Harry waved back and then looked at his hand. He wasn't here! 

Severus ran to the little girl. She jumped at him and he barely caught her before she sent them both sprawling on the rock pathway that lead up to the door of the house. 

Harry ran an eye over the house's exterior and frowned. It looked bad. The wood was warped, rotted, and he could see holes from various insects in several places. There were no glass on the windows, just stretched oil cloth. 

But the surrounding garden looked nice. It was well tended and the fruits and vegetables looked healthy. Harry could see several black snakes slithering through the plants. He looked away as one caught a rat that was gnawing on a plant. Too bad that wasn't Wormtail. 

"Katrina?" Florence asked as she picked the excited little girl up off Severus. 

Katrina nodded her head. "Yep," she said, standing up straight and looking up at Florence through her bangs, they were just barely long enough to cover her eyes. "And you must be Florence?" 

Katrina looked just like Snape, but her nose was a bit smaller, not much though. Her eyes were black too. 

Florence glanced at Severus, who was dusting himself off, and then down at Katrina. "What has he told you about me?" 

Katrina put a hand to her mouth and giggled. "That you and him are going to get married. You kiss even!" She said, looking at Florence as if Florence was insane. "How can you kiss my brother? Gross!" 

Florence walked up to Severus and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Katrina squealed and darted into the house, yelling "She kissed him!" 

Harry wiped his sweaty palms on his invisibility cloak, he was going to met Severus's parents. Evan and Florence looked slightly nervous too as they followed Severus into the ramshackle wooden house. 

The first thing Harry noticed was that compared to these people, the Weaselys were rich. There was only one room. One wall was taken up by a huge fireplace, it was divided up into four sections; two that were big enough to stand in, those reached the floor; and two that were smaller ones and had a hearth. A cauldron was bubbling in one of the smaller ones while a woman sat in a chair in a large section with a fire blazing beside her. She was looking angry and her face looked melted. Harry quickly turned away, glad he wasn't really here. 

There was a huge table that took up the center of the room, three people were at that, and shelves and drawers lined the walls all over, being filled with Muggle soft drink bottles, Muggle aluminum cans, glass jars and other containers, there were also baskets, books, and cooking utensils. Harry couldn't see anything that was solely for decoration. 

The drawers were Muggle dressers that were stacked on each other to the ceiling. Harry guessed magic kept them from toppling over. 

"Welcome!" said the woman by the fire. She didn't get up and Harry realized she was sitting in a position that couldn't be comfortable and her face, she wasn't angry it was just frozen in a grimace. That had to be Severus's deformed mother. 

"Hi, mom!" Severus greeted, walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek. 

She put a bent arm around his shoulders and patted his back awkwardly with a grotesquely shaped hand. It looked like she only had three fingers. 

Harry willed himself not to screw up his face in disgust. He may not actually be present but it was still a rude thing to do. 

Florence and Evan, amazingly, showed no disgust as they walked up to her and shook her hand as best as they could. She couldn't open her hand enough to give anyone a real handshake. 

"This is my dad," Severus said and signed with his hands, having gotten his father's attention by tapping his shoulder. The man looked just like Severus, down to the greasy shoulder length black hair, but his eyes were pale blue, like Narcissa's. 

"Hey," Evan said, shaking Severus's father's hand. 

The man signed something after he had shaken Florence's hand too. 

"He says hi back," Katrina translated. 

"And this is grandma and grandpa," Severus said, indicating the last two people. One of them was bigger than Evan and the other one, well, Harry wasn't able to suppress the shudder that ran through his body at seeing her. 

Her skin was grayish and tightly stretched over her bony frame. It looked moist. Her blue eyes were small and mostly obscured by skin and her mouth seemed to be little more than a small hole, she didn't seem to have any lips. Her teeth were small and sharp and her nose were two tiny holes in the middle of her face. 

The large half-troll got up and shook their hands fiercely, he and Evan got into a contest to see who could squeeze the other hand the hardest. Evan finally let out a yelp and the man let him go. 

"Call me Tibor," the man laughed, sitting back down. 

Severus was signing all of this to his father. 

"And," the half-dementor said as she stood, her voice a whisper that reminded Harry of crackling dry leaves as fire consumed them, "call me Serilda." 

She shook their hands and neither Evan nor Florence could control the spasm of panic that crossed their face at the touch. 

Serilda made a hissing noise and sat back down, nudging Tibor. "I scare them." 

Katrina laughed. "You scare everyone and you enjoy it!" 

Serilda rose but Severus put a hand on her shoulder and forced her back down. "Control yourself grandma. We have guests." 

Katrina stuck her tongue out at her grandmother. "I can laugh all I want with guests around. Ha, Ha, Ha." 

The half-dementor scowled, at least that was what Harry guessed the expression was, at her granddaughter. "They'll get used to me soon enough," she whispered. "And then I shall be after you!" 

Harry glanced at Severus. He had signed the entire conversation to his father. Harry wondered if Severus would consent to giving him sign language classes. He doubted it but he wouldn't know unless he asked. Sign language looked pretty cool. 

The memories swirled once more and Harry found himself standing near a river that had tons of children and adults playing and swimming in it. How was he going to find Severus in this mess? 

"This is heavy," groaned a familiar voice from behind him. 

Harry turned around to see Severus trying to lift up one side of a large trunk. Evan shouldered him out of the way and lifted the entire thing up, smirking. Severus looked woefully down at his body. 

"I'm a scrawny wimp," he sighed. 

"You are that," Evan agreed, flexing his muscles as he held the trunk. 

Harry rolled his eyes, wondering if that was how Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe viewed Draco. And he wondered if Goyle and Crabbe were as cool as Evan. It was a shame they hated Harry so much, he would have liked to get to know them, if they were anything like Evan, that was. 

"I like scrawny wimps," Florence said, coming up beside Severus and wrapping her arms around his waist, giving Evan an evil stare, while Severus blushed. 

Evan chuckled while several Dark Forest children noticed this show of affection and let out a loud "Ewwwww," led by Katrina. 

Florence winked at Katrina and she ran off, giggling, followed by other giggling children of various ages and genders. 

Harry watched as they set up for what had to be a party of some kind. A stage was in a large clearing, off to the side of the river, and there were tables set up all along the perimeter with people sitting at them and arranging items on the table. Harry wandered around since Evan was busily helping finish making the stage and Severus and Florence were sorting out the candy they had brought into various baskets at a table. 

One table seemed to be for toys, wooden ones that were roughly carved. They were actually quite nice. The elderly woman in charge of this table was whittling a stick to make another one, Harry guessed. Another table seemed to be for painting faces. It had small paints in tiny containers, film canisters from the looks of it, and samples of what the man could paint on rocks. His own face sported a dragon that was alternatively breathing fire and ice. Harry reasoned that he was a wizard. A little girl was sitting by his feet, a fairy, the Muggle kind, was flying around on one of her cheeks. The girl had a large lump on her back and one eye wouldn't open all the way. But judging from the affectionate way the man was smiling down at her, he couldn't see her deformities. 

Harry smiled and went on to other tables. There was a table for all sorts of other cool things: mushrooms that made a person glow in the dark; potions for turning hair any shade of color the person wanted, including polka-dotted; potions for making hair grow on your person; necklaces with rune letters carved out of wood, shell, bone, rock, even crystal; a make-your-own-wand table (Harry itched to try that and he wondered if it was possible); what looked like firecrackers; and to Harry's shock there was Muggle-related items too: a table for hand wrestling, a person with troll blood in her was doing that; a table with all sort of trading cards on it (only a handful of moving ones were with them); a puppet theater; lots of tables with food laden on them, bread, rolls, meat dishes, and other real food. Severus's table was the only one with sweets at it. 

Harry went back to see how Florence and Severus were doing. Each type of candy was now residing in its own separate basket. Severus had brought a lot! 

"How often do you do these parties?" Florence asked, trying to snag a frog without Severus noticing. 

"Twice a year. Christmas and midsummer. It's all handmade stuff and nothing costs so it's really enjoyable. The kids are pretty good about only getting two or three items so all the children get to have something. Katrina normally doesn't bring home anything since I can do most of this stuff for her myself." Severus explained, taking the frog out of Florence's hand. 

Harry wanted to go to one. Did they still have them? A horrible thought occurred to Harry, did the Dark Forest even exist anymore? He had never heard of it, but that didn't mean much. He hoped it existed, he wanted to visit it in real life, despite the scary insects. 

"It's ready!" Evan called as he jumped off the stage and rushed over. "When does it start!" 

Severus stood up and looked around. "Everyone ready?" he asked, loudly. 

"Yep!" came the chorused reply. 

"Okay!" Severus took his wand out. "_Serpensortia_!" he called. A large black snake fell out of the end of his wand and reared up to gaze at Severus. "Go tell Melusine we are ready for her," he hissed. 

The snake seemed to nod and then slithered away. Useful. Harry took his own wand out and opened his mouth to say the spell when he stopped. The snake would have no where to go in the Pensieve. But he was going to try that spell, not caring if being a Parseltongue was a bad thing. It was a gift and a useful one at that. He should have used it when Wormtail had escaped as a rat. Then Voldemort wouldn't have risen and Cedric would still be alive. 

Harry closed his eyes, blinking back the tears, and opened them again, shoving those memories out of his head. 

After a few minutes a woman suddenly appeared on the stage. Harry took a step back. Talk about evil! Her dark red hair fell to her feet, her face was haughty and dangerous, her cold blue eyes arrogant. Her robe was dark red, and her cloak black. 

"Intimidating, eh?" she said, breaking the spell and smiling. She still wasn't attractive but no longer evil looking. 

Severus laughed. "I can't wait until I can cow people like that!" 

Melusine sneered dangerously and swirled her black cloak around her. "You'll never get as good as me!" she hissed and then smiled again. 

Harry didn't know what to think. Was she evil, acting good, or good, acting evil? His head hurt again. 

Melusine, Harry noticed, had no wand. Just a polished black staff with a purple orb on the top, held on by a silver metal claw. She lifted the staff in the air and purple lights shot out of it along with a what sounded like a whistle. 

People streamed in, laughing and talking with each other as they headed to the various tables. Harry saw that everyone went barefoot and had green feet, except for Narcissa. She elegantly walked around and after picking up a necklace with a polished wood rune on it, went to sit with her brother. Katrina was everywhere, Harry lost track of her several times. 

She had a frog painted on her face, a fat green one with purple dots, that hopped up and down, trying to eat a fly that she had painted on near her eye. Harry smiled as he saw a little boy of around three with a puppy dog on his face that was raising one paw to shake with and wagging its tail happily. 

Going back to Severus's table, Harry smiled. His table was one of the more popular ones and children and adults alike were stuffing themselves with sweets. 

"Be careful," Severus warned a man that was eating his fifth piece of fudge. "If you aren't used to sweets your mouth is going to make you pay for it. I wouldn't have anymore if I were you." 

The man looked longingly at the table. "What do you mean?" 

Severus grimaced. "I ate an entire bag full of sweets when I first went to Hogwarts and I had sores all over my mouth the next day. Couldn't eat right for a week. Very unpleasant." 

The man nodded his head and rubbed his jaw. "Yeah, my mouth is a bit sore." 

"Go get some water, it'll rinse out the sugar," Narcissa advised. 

The water table was right next to them. 

Evan came strolling over with a huge leg of something in his hand. He bit it and waved it at Severus. "Now this is real food! Not like the puny food we get fed at Hogwarts!" 

Severus's mouth watered. "Can you get me one?" 

Evan shook his head. "This is troll food, boy. You're too thin, it'd hurt you." 

Harry laughed as Severus scowled, looking down at his chest. "I tried working out with weights but it didn't work. My girlfriend is bigger than me," he said morosely. 

Florence lifted the sleeve of her robe, to reveal a rather muscled arm. She was more muscular than Severus! 

"I'm a puny wimp!" he moaned, falling out of sight. 

"I still love you, Sevvie, even if I'll have to be the one to open all your stuck jars," Florence assured him, bending over to look at him. 

"Yes, I'll help you too Sev," Evan laughed. 

"Humph!" was Severus' only reply as he stayed out of sight for a few seconds. 

Poor Sev. Being made fun of for being so skinny. Harry could sympathize. 

"Come on Snake!" said a boy as he rushed up behind Severus. The new kid looked wild! His bushy brown hair was streaked with some gray and though he looked young, he was sporting a shadow, like he was about to need to shave. He had a guitar in his hands with werewolves running along the strap around his shoulder. 

Severus smiled and took off. "Watch the table for me Narcissa!" he called back. 

Florence looked scandalized. "I guess he doesn't trust me with the candy," she muttered, snagging a handful of chocolate frogs. 

Narcissa let her have them. "When are you and Sev going to get married?" 

"After seventh year," she smiled. "I can't wait. It's going to so cool. I want to have at least four children, maybe six, and live here," she glanced around, a content smile on her face. "It's so nice here." 

Narcissa looked pleased. "It is nice here. Very pleasant." 

Harry glanced guiltily at Florence. She would never have those children, at least... Harry swallowed. Did Severus have children? He would find out soon enough. 

The table's were soon abandoned and everyone sat in the middle of the clearing, waiting for something. Harry joined Evan and the girl from the wrestling table. From the affectionate way Evan and the girl were talking, it looked like Evan might have found his wife. 

The lights went out and the stage illuminated itself in green light. The words "Wolf and Snake" appeared in silver handwriting above the stage and then rose to pulse far above it. 

Smoke, black smoke, filled the stage and four outlines could be seen. 

Harry grinned as the smoke cleared. Severus was wearing clothes much like Bill Weasley wore, black boots with silver chains on them, blue jeans that were torn at the knees, a huge oversized black shirt with rips and tears in it, Severus wore a green shirt underneath it so no skin was visible. His hair was green with a silver streak in it. He had to find a way to take a picture of this, no one would believe it! 

The others wore clothes similar to Sev's. 

The music started up and several of the younger kids were already on their feet and dancing. Severus started to sing, his voice amplified slightly, and Harry was shocked. He knew Severus could sing but this was amazing. His voice was so rich. He could easily have been a singer instead of a Potions Master. 

The song wasn't one Harry was familiar with but the words were soothing and the beat was good. 

After several songs, Severus and the rest of the band bowed and as red smoke filled the air, they left the stage and went to sit in the audience, not changing their clothes. 

Florence leaned against Severus as he sat with her. 

"Grindelwald had enveloped the nations in fear," came a disembodied voice. "No one dared to stand against him but one man, one man named Albus Dumbledore." 

Several children squealed and raced to sit in laps of their parents or closest relative. Even Katrina had retreated to sit with Severus. 

Harry watched as two figures appeared on the stage. They were smoke but there was enough detail to be able to see the moon and star pattern on Dumbledore's robes. Harry sat up. Was he going to see Grindelwald's and Dumbledore's fight? 

Grindelwald sent a spell, a yellow light, at Dumbledore who deflected it with a green light. At first, Grindelwald looked amused but as Dumbledore kept deflecting his spells, his face changed to anger, and the spells came faster. 

Harry shrieked as Dumbledore was suddenly consumed in fire. The fire went out, though Dumbledore's robes were singed, and he sent a flame at Grindelwald. Grindelwald arrogantly deflected it and the battle raged on. 

Harry, even though he knew Dumbledore had won, couldn't help but sweat. It was a nasty battle and when Grindelwald finally fell, dead, Dumbledore sank to his knees, his beard short now, the rest had been consumed, his robes black and sooty instead of blue, and his body trembling. 

Dumbledore disappeared and Melusine walked onto the stage, smiling and holding a box full of dead leaves. The children left their parents and clamored for the front. Katrina stayed in her brother's lap. 

It was fireworks display that Harry wanted Ron and Hermione to see. It was exciting. Some she sent into the air to crack off like normal firecrackers, other she made into animals that went into the audience to quietly pop out. Some firecrackers turned into little prizes that the children played with; hats, gaudy jewelry, horrid colored robes, little cars, and the like. Some were scary. The manticore, dragon, and dementor Harry could have lived without, especially the dementor. 

A humorous skit by some teenagers followed that had Harry rolling on the ground. They were acting like punk American teenagers; one had a "valley" accent, one was a southerner, one was a rich one, and the last one was a mystic type that reminded Harry of Trelawney. The entire skit was based around them pretending to be sent into the woods and having to learn out to survive. The southerner seemed to think the valley girl needed to be eaten by a bear and the valley girl told the bear, which had suddenly showed up, to "bring it on," whilst the mystic lady was crying and talking about "I feel the bear's pain. NO!" and then crumbling to the ground, gasping about the burden of the inner eye. 

A wrestling contest followed that. A large trollish man got onto the stage and challenged anyone to a fight that thought they could beat him. Several rushed to the stage, including, Harry noticed, several females. Evan's girlfriend was among them and she beat the guy! Evan rushed to beat her and found himself on the ground, smiling madly, while the girl pranced around the stage, flexing her muscles. 

"No one can beat Bertha!" she cried. 

"Except me!" came Tibor's voice as he got onto the stage. Harry hadn't seen any of Severus's parents or grandparents before and wondered where he came from. 

They tied! 

"I told you no one can beat me!" Bertha cried smugly. 

Tibor hit the stage, hard, with his fist and made it rattle. 

Two more acts followed: a juggling one; a magic one done by Melusine again, she made a child turn into a black unicorn, and a man into a frog, Katrina had to be hauled off the stage from acquiring him. The frog hopped behind Melusine and cowered. 

Harry smiled as the people got up and started to mingle. That was fun! 

The memories swirled. 

After the rush of the party Harry frowned at this memory. Evan was just sitting there, shelling peas, by himself in the house. No one else was around. What kind of memory was this? 

The door banged opened and Harry started to smile when his blood froze. Katrina was leaning against the doorway, holding her chest, blood dripping down between her fingers. 

"The Ministry," she gasped, "is attacking. Mom and dad are dead. Please help, go, by the...." blood started to trickle from her mouth and her voice sounded bubbly, "the river. They came... that way." She collapsed, and laid there. 

Evan sat for a second and then jumped up, racing to Katrina. He turned the little girl over and Harry stared. She was dead! 

Evan raced out the door, taking his wand and a club with him, screaming for help. Harry stared down at Katrina, unable to move. Just like Cedric. Her wide staring eyes looking at nothing. Harry tried to close her eyes but his fingers didn't seem to want to work. 

He was suddenly yanked and pulled along, Harry screamed, trying to claw the ground so he wouldn't have to see what was happening where Evan was. 


	8. Raids and Consequences

Body Disclaimer: _all rights to J.K. Rowlings and whoever else owns Harry Potter._

__

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: _Taran_

Chapter 8: Raids and Consequences 

Harry, not moving anymore, slowly opened his eyes and then wished he hadn't. A child was laying in front of him, dead. It was the same little boy who had the cute little dog on his cheek at the Midsummer Gathering. A man was laying, dead too, next to him. 

Hearing screams, Harry jerked up and whirled around, taking his wand out, ready to defend the little boy, even though he was too late. But then Harry remembered he wasn't there. He couldn't help. All he could do was watch. 

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Harry suddenly screamed, trying to stop it. 

People were everywhere, running, screaming, laying on the ground. Bodies laying half in the river, half out. Some were tangled up in tree roots. One dead little girl had an oversized black butterfly resting on her hand. There were more Ministry people, all wearing red robes, on the ground dead than there were Dark Forest people. At least that was something. 

Harry forced his eyes off the dead bodies to look for Evan and the rest. 

Evan was wading through a thick knot of Ministry people, blasting them with his wand or grabbing them and sinking his teeth into their unprotected necks. Harry winced. Evan's chin and cheeks, not to mention the front of his shirt, was covered in blood. 

Harry quickly looked away as Evan's attacks became even more brutal, he was now using his iron-spiked club. Florence was holding her own, protecting five children that were holding onto her. She was licking her lips and looking excited. 

Harry again looked away. Florence wasn't supposed to be looking excited, she was supposed to be looking sick, like he was. Severus was kneeling on the ground, barely managing to fight anyone off, his wand arm was hanging uselessly by his side, forcing him to use his left hand, and a huge gash on his head was bleeding freely over his right eye. But, he too, had children to defend and he was doing it. Four of them were crouched down around him, sobbing into his shirt. 

Severus's parents were laying dead near him. Neither of them, Harry noticed, even had a wand near them. He couldn't see Narcissa anywhere. 

Screams got louder and Harry sank to the ground, closing his eyes, not wanting to see anything more. He couldn't help them, so what was the point of watching? 

Hearing a hissing noise near him, Harry jerked his head up to see Severus's grandmother, and many other half-dementors from the looks of them, streaming in through the trees. They turned the tide and the Ministry found itself being brought down with swords instead of wands. Avada Kedavra didn't work on the half-dementors, neither did Expecto Patronum, which only a couple of Ministry people used, having figured out what the new creatures had to be related to. It quickly turned into a slaughter. 

Having a body fall through him, Harry screwed up his eyes and fought against the urge to throw up as he crawled out of the way. He opened them again and felt his stomach heaving. He was staring at Severus's dead father. 

Closing his eyes again, Harry decided not to open them until he knew it was safe. The vomit would have nowhere to go in the Pensieve so he couldn't allow himself the luxury of throwing up. 

The screams stopped and dead silence followed. 

"Where is Narcissa?" came Severus's voice, quivering, breaking the stillness. 

"They took her," Florence's voice, gentle. "I guess they figured she had to be a captive and not one of us." 

"I got to get her back, she'll..." his voice trailed off. 

"Is he okay?" Evan's voice. 

"Yeah," Florence answered. "Just unconscious. Did we get them all?" 

"Yes," said a gravely voice. "All but two, the ones that had Narcissa." 

"We need to get her back," a new voice, Melusine's. 

"Where were you?" Evan asked, sounding angry. 

"Protecting as many as I could on my way. The further you get into the Dark Forest the more vulnerable the people are and I had to make sure they were safe too," Melusine answered, not sounding angry that Evan was furious with her. 

Harry stood up and opened his eyes, not daring to look at the ground. Melusine was standing, surveying the dead, her body posture rigid. "All the dead on our part were unable to work magic, except one," she said. "Didn't they notice they had no wands?" 

"Why did they attack?" Florence asked, holding onto the nine children as best she could. Severus was laying unconscious next to her, a piece of fabric wrapped around his head. 

Melusine looked to her, her eyes flashing purple as she sent purple sparks into the sky with her staff. "Because they fear us. We get attacked occasionally, but it has never been this bad." Melusine shook her head. "We'll talk later. We need to attend to the wounded and bury the dead. And get the children back to their parents." 

Harry, hearing weeping, glanced over at a small little girl, the hunchback one, who was poking her father and trying to wake him up. 

"Wake up, daddy!" she sobbed. "Wake up! Quit sleeping." 

Evan took his shirt off, wiped the blood off his mouth, and went to pick her up, dropping the bloody shirt on the way. The little girl tried to get back to her father but Evan turned around so she couldn't see him anymore. 

"Where do we take the children?" he asked. 

He needn't have asked. People started to stream in through the woods, like the half-dementors had, and take the children away from the carnage and back, deep, into the Dark Forest. Harry wished someone would take him. 

The half-troll lady that Evan had liked at the Midsummer Gathering took the little girl from Evan's grasp. "How many did you get?" she asked. 

Evan smiled. "At least ten." 

She smiled back. "Good." 

"I'll check on her later, okay?" 

The lady nodded her head, and left, being very careful not to step on any Dark Forest bodies but she seemed to "accidentally" kick Ministry bodies out of her way as she left. 

How could the Ministry have done this? Didn't they see that these weren't dark witches and wizards? 

"I'm going to get Katrina," Florence said. "I think seeing her when he wakes up will help." 

"She's dead," Evan said, softly. 

Florence slowly sat down next to Severus. "Oh," she muttered, beginning to stroke Severus's back. "All his family is dead but Narcissa and she's a prisoner. We have to get her back before he wakes up." 

Evan nodded his head, staring at Severus. "After we get him somewhere safe." 

"Take him deep into the forest, Evan," Melusine instructed. "Once the Ministry hears about this they will want to retaliate. I'm going to have to seal off most of the Dark Forest and only let the half-dementors stay in the unsealed part to take care of any new arrivals we might be getting. You and Florence can't go to Narcissa right now. It's too dangerous. I'm sorry." 

Evan and Florence looked like they wanted to protest but both understood what she was saying so they didn't. 

Harry followed along as Evan, carrying Severus, and Florence went deeper into the Dark Forest. Looking back Harry saw that only Melusine and the half-dementors remained, gathering up the dead and rounding up any stragglers to send them deeper into the Forest. 

They headed to a small hut and knocked on the door. An old witch opened it and immediately let them in and started to prepare something over the stove that smelled vile. Harry's queasy stomach lurched, wanting desperately to expel its contents but Harry wouldn't let it. Florence and Evan weren't throwing up so he wasn't going to either. 

Evan laid Severus on the only bed in the room and carefully felt Severus's right arm. "Broken," he informed Florence. 

The old witch nodded her frizzled gray head and clucked. "Same thing happened to my husband on the last raid we had. But I fixed him up." 

Harry sat next to Florence as she positioned herself near Severus's head, close enough to be able to stroke his face, which she was presently doing. 

"How many raids have you guys had?" 

"Lots," the old woman sighed. "But," she walked up, leaving her bubbling cauldron and staring down at Severus's face, "this is his first one. Who all died?" 

"His parents, his little sister, and his other sister was taken by the Ministry," Evan spat out, his face clouding over. "Thirty, at least that was what I counted, in all. Didn't bother to count those _others_." 

Harry could see the muscles in his chest and arms spasming, wanting, Harry guessed, to crush something or someone. 

The old woman didn't seem too surprised. "I thought England would be better than some of the other places. The one I grew up in had a couple of raids in which we lost over a hundred in each. I never thought that would happen here," she shook herself. "The name is Urzula, by the way." 

"Florence and Evan," Evan muttered, not distinguishing which was which, figuring, Harry knew, that the lady could tell. 

Nothing more was said as Urzula got her stuff ready and tended to Severus's arm and face. "He'll sleep for several hours while the arm and head heals. What about you?" she asked Florence. 

"I'm fine," she said. "They were mainly after Severus. His bad looks and all. Everyone always mistakes him for being something evil, even the kids at Hogwarts." Florence hadn't stopped stroking Severus's face. "We are going to get married after seventh year," she informed the lady. "Right after. We are going to have a nice wedding. My colors are going to be green, white, and silver, and maybe some black, but maybe not." 

The lady sharply looked at Evan, who shrugged. "Aren't you a bit young, my darling, to decide who you are marrying already?" 

Florence shook her head. "I've known we were getting married since first year. We were going to get on the train and my trunk slipped and crashed right into him. He fell backwards onto the pavement. My parents started to... to... to make fun of me," Florence's face twitched, "but Severus told them it was fine and he helped me get my trunk back onto the train. He was nice to me," she smiled fondly. "The first person ever to be nice to me." 

Urzula sat next to Florence, drawing her hand away from Severus's face. "There are plenty of nice people out there," she said. "Lots of them. You just have to find them. You might even find someone you like more than Severus." 

Harry wiped at his eyes, unable to watch. Florence was in shock. Evan was too, judging from his rippling muscles, and the lady was trying to calm them the best she knew how, by talking. 

"No. Just Severus. Severus will be my husband and we will have four or six children. I already have the names picked out," she said, now stroking Severus's shoulder. 

Urzula smiled. "I have to go see Melusine. I'll be back soon." 

Urzula was gone for some time. Florence, growing tired, laid with her head on Severus's chest and fell asleep, her legs still hanging off the bed. Evan watched her for awhile and sighed. 

"Just great. Severus is going to be devastated when he wakes up, probably much worse, Florence is going crazy and me," he laughed bitterly, "I enjoy killing people and it won't be something I'll be able to stop myself from doing now that I've had my first taste of blood. Perfect," he bit out. 

Harry stared at his hands. This wasn't fair. They hadn't done anything. Why were their lives getting so messed up? 

Melusine arrived with Urzula quite a bit later. Evan was dozing on the floor, with his face to the wall. Harry walked over to him and saw that his eyes were slightly opened. Eavesdropping? 

"It's sealed," Melusine said, "but I don't know how long we can live with it sealed off. We need to be able to go in and out." She took a cup of something that Urzula handed her, and sipped from it. "At least it was only forty people instead of how many it could have been. They all did a good job of defending. The Ministry didn't kill anyone that wasn't at the river already when they attacked." 

"Do you know why the Ministry attacked?" Urzula asked. 

Melusine shook her head. "I don't know. Whenever there is a dark mage rising in power the Ministry always attacks us, or whenever a politician needs more support we get attacked, or whenever someone with position has a lusting for blood we get attacked and on and on. Since Voldemort is gaining in power, I guess it is the first reason this time." 

"Should we join Voldemort?" Urzula asked. 

"I don't know," Melusine slowly said, sitting down on the hearth. "Grindelwald was evil, I could tell that, but..." 

"Sandor wasn't, though everyone claimed he was. Remember that." 

Sandor? Harry wondered who that was. 

"Yes," Melusine sighed. "It turned out he was the good guy." She rubbed her forehead. "I have to stay in England, it needs a Dark Forest, and we can't be worrying about being attacked all the time so I have to be sure that whoever is in power is someone we can trust and the Ministry has proven itself untrustworthy too many times. I guess we need to see what Voldemort is all about." 

"I'll go," Evan volunteered as he sat up. 

Melusine, Harry noted, wasn't surprised to see him awake. 

"Me too," Florence added. "I was going to join him anyway. I hate the Ministry, I hate it," she said, her face twisted in hate. 

Melusine didn't look happy. "Okay." 

The memories swirled and Harry tried to stop them. He wanted to warn them all, warn them that Voldemort wasn't the way to go. But then he stopped himself. Sure Voldemort went around killing people but the Ministry did too. They had even killed children. Was Voldemort more evil than the Ministry? 


	9. Talks and Fights

Body Disclaimer: all rights to J.K. Rowlings and whoever else owns Harry Potter. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Chapter 9: Talks and Fights 

Harry tightly closed his eyes as the swirling memories threatened to make him lose his battle not to vomit. 

Hearing soft crying noises, Harry forced his eyes opened to see Severus curled up in a corner, with Florence holding him, crying onto her shoulder. It was a strange sight for Harry, watching Severus cry, having never seen him anywhere near tears, either in the Pensieve as of yet, or in real life. 

Harry turned away from it, knowing how much he had hated Ron watching him when he wanted to cry that night Cedric was killed. Evan was whittling a huge stick with a wicked looking knife while sitting on the hearth. He often looked at Severus, his face soft and compassionate. It was hard to imagine that Evan was a killer; in fact, Harry just couldn't picture it. But Harry had seen him kill, knew he was capable of it, and, according to Evan himself, enjoyed it and wouldn't be able to stop doing it. 

Evan motioned Urzula over to him with a nod. She brought her mending over to sit with him on the hearth. Harry sat next to them, enjoying the warmth of the fire. 

"Is he going to be okay?" Evan asked. 

Urzula nodded her head. "Yes, Evan, he will be. Severus was very close to his family and its naturally going to take him some time to get over it." 

"How long?" Evan pressed. 

"It took me about two years to mostly get over my first raid. And it isn't something I've ever forgotten either." 

Evan sighed, stretching his back out with a crack. "Where's Narcissa?" he asked. 

Urzula shrugged her thin shoulders. "We don't know. She's very pretty so my guess is she got adopted. Especially since she is so good at telling stories. Probably has someone believing she's the relative of someone rich and famous." 

"She lied a lot?" Evan asked. 

"No, not lies, stories. She'd amuse the children with stories about her "past lives." Those kids actually believed her and so did some adults if they didn't catch themselves. Narcissa was very well liked for her stories." 

"Why isn't she coming back?" Evan demanded. 

Urzula shook her head. "I don't know Evan. She was very close to her parents, like Severus was, and they both saw them get killed. It may be too painful for her to come back, especially since Severus looks so much like their father and Katrina." 

Harry wondered if Narcissa had ever come back. He doubted it. She probably had to be very careful. After all, Harry didn't think Lucius Malfoy would be very happy to find out his wife was the sister of Severus Snape, a lowly Potions Master at a school, and had been raised in poverty in the Dark Forest. 

"Why was Narcissa so weird?" Evan wondered. "She didn't act like the rest of her family and those clothes she wore?" 

Urzula smiled gently at Severus. "Evan, that was because of their mother. She was born deformed and burned as a baby. She was ugly, told she was ugly, knew she was ugly, and felt like a monster. Patrick, Severus's father, was very loving to her but he's scary looking himself and Madeline just figured no one normal looking would ever like her. And then one day she has a baby that was precious looking. It made her realize what she could have looked like if things had been a little different. And that is why Narcissa was so careful with her looks, it wasn't conceit, it was because it made her mother feel human instead of feeling like a monster. Those two had a special bond." 

Evan slid down off the hearth to sit on the floor and lean against the sooty stone. "Do you think she'll ever be back?" 

Urzula shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think Severus will be back for a long time once you all leave for Hogwarts this time. Coming back here will be too painful for him. I moved away when the raid happened where I was. I eventually came back, years later." 

Florence shifted her grip on Severus and stroked his back, softly singing old nursery rhymes to him. Florence was very good at giving comfort. 

"She's quite good at that," Urzula remarked. 

Evan nodded his head. "Learned it from Severus. That's the way he'd hold her when she'd break down in our first few years of school. Severus was the first person to ever hug her, you know." 

"Really?" Urzula asked, sounding slightly horrified. 

"Yeah. I remember it too. He was always kind of affectionate, touching her arm when he talked with her, touching her shoulder to guide her somewhere, brushing her hair back off her shoulder. I could tell it unnerved Florence but after awhile she got used to it and enjoyed it. And then on Valentine's in first year, Severus gave her one, it was her first one and she burst into tears. He hugged her and she was like a piece of steel, he said. Stiff and unbending. But he hugged her occasionally after that and she just got used to it. By third year she really liked being hugged and wanted to be kissed," Evan laughed a little, not enough to bother Severus and Florence though. "They went behind a greenhouse and kissed a little. Not much, both only being thirteen and only on their cheeks. But some gossipy girl named Bortha or Berta had followed them and was teasing Severus about kissing Florence. She was trying to make Florence feel bad about it, I think. So Severus hexed her. Made her hair fall out, her teeth enlarge, and her nose to grow warts. He got into trouble with our head of house but Severus didn't care. Told Borta that he would do something even worse if she ever teased Florence again. Florence was in love with him from that day on though no one but me and Sev knew it." 

Harry smiled. Severus could be very sweet. It was too bad he was so consumed with hate and revenge to be sweet anymore. 

"It sounds like they would make a good match," Urzula murmured. "They do seem to love each other, though I still think they are too young for marriage." 

Evan shrugged. "I don't know." 

The door opened and Harry watched as the wild haired boy from the Midsummer Gathering, the one in the band that had gotten Severus when it was their turn, came in. His eyes were red and swollen. 

"Who'd he lose?" the boy said, softly walking over to Urzula and Evan. 

Harry moved over to make room for him. 

"His parents and Katrina," Evan answered. 

"Kat's dead?" the new arrival said, wincing. "Man, she was such a great kid." 

"Evan," Urzula said, "this is Michael Davenport. The Wolf in _Wolf and Snake_." 

"I'm a werewolf," Michael explained. 

Harry rubbed his forehead. If Severus had a friend that was a werewolf why did he hate Lupin for being a werewolf? Maybe he just hated Lupin for being Lupin and his being a werewolf was just a cover up for the real reason. Harry wondered what it was. 

"We lost our other two band members," Michael said softly. "Dennis and Rich." 

"They're dead too?" asked a hoarse voice. 

Harry looked at Severus. He looked horrible. He was pale, his eyes were red and bloodshot and his face was splotchy. Harry had an urge to hold him like Mrs. Weasley had done for him when Cedric died. 

Florence pressed Severus's head back against her shoulder and rubbed his back. 

Michael wiped at his eyes. "I best be going. I just wanted Severus to know. Rather tell him now than let him find out later, I guess." 

Evan patted Michael's leg. "Thanks." 

Michael nodded and left. 

The memories swirled. Harry shook his head. Everyone Severus knew was either dead or fixing to get killed. Evan and Florence, the only two people he had left, were not going to be alive for many more years. No wonder why Severus was so miserable, he had no one left. 

Harry had all sorts of people: the Weasley's, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, and Hagrid. Who did Severus have: maybe Filch (if they still got along), maybe Draco (if Draco wasn't sucking up to him for deceitful motives), and maybe Dumbledore (if Dumbledore liked him instead of just trusting him which wasn't the same thing). 

Harry decided that no matter what, when he got back to Hogwarts, he was going to become Severus's friend. Even if Severus threatened to use him in one of his potions. He needed a friend and Harry was willing to be that friend. 

They were on the train this time. Severus looked normal but his eyes weren't. They were cold and empty, not as bad as they were as an adult, but getting there. He was sitting next to Florence while Evan was across from them, with his legs propped up on the seat in between Severus and Florence. 

"Don't want you two to start kissing while I'm in the compartment," Evan informed them. 

Severus smiled slightly but he didn't blush like he normally would have. Florence squeezed his shoulder. 

"Can you believe it?" Sirius's voice said in the hallway. "We lost all those people in that Dark Forest Raid and the Ministry just sits there on it's hands. I think we should round up some more people and attack them again." 

Harry's eyes flew to Severus. Severus was watching the door now, his face rather blank. 

"They did," Lupin's voice. "They didn't find anyone and they couldn't go very far into it. Some sort of magic they can't go through." 

"That's because they haven't let me have a go at it," Sirius boasted. "I'll tell you. If I ever see someone from the Dark Forest I'm going to kill them, not the other way around. Those witches and wizard deserved to die that lived in it. They are all evil after all." 

Severus stared at the door, his face twisting with the familiar hate and loathing that Harry knew only too well. 

"How could.... she was only... my parents..... how could...." his throat constricted and he looked away. 

The door slid open and Harry winced as Sirius and James walked in. He wanted them gone. Harry didn't want to see them right now, not after what Sirius had said. 

"So, what happened to the three of you during summer?" 

Evan and Florence looked at them with hate but neither Sirius nor James seemed to care. It was the same look that Evan and Florence always gave them, after all. 

"What about you, Severus?" James joked. "What did you do this summer?" 

"Join Voldemort?" Sirius laughed. 

"As a matter of fact, I did," Severus snarled, turning to them. His face twisting in absolute hate. "My first duty is to rid the world of the two of you. I can't kill you, or Dumbledore will have my hide, but I could expel you and make you two the laughing stock of the wizarding world." 

James's smile faded as he realized Severus wasn't joking. "What's the matter with you?" 

"I'm evil," Severus smiled nastily. "Or haven't you been listening to your esteemed friend throughout all these years?" 

James glared at Sirius. "He was just joking. Can't you take a joke?" James tried to laugh it off. 

"No, not anymore," Severus bit out, standing. "I'm all joked out." His wand was in his shaking hand. "Since Sirius has always known what I am, evil that is, he'll be my first victim." 

And before either James or Sirius could react, Sirius was thrown out the compartment to crash into the other compartment's door across from them. The other compartment held Lily, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Harry got up and went into the hallway to watch. 

Severus did the same thing to James, who landed on Sirius as he was struggling to get up. 

"Now," Severus said, deadly quiet. "Don't bother me again." 

He went back into his compartment, sliding the door shut. 

Sirius was furious, trying to get a stunned James off of him to seek his revenge. 

"He's going to pay!" Sirius snarled. 

"I don't get it," James said, getting to his feet. "He's never done that before. He's never physically assaulted any of us before, even when you deserved it," he said, looking as Sirius. "And he's always the one holding Evan back. It doesn't make any sense." 

"You heard him!" Sirius screamed. "He's always been evil. He's just showing his true colors now." 

James shook his head. "Maybe." 

Harry, rather disgusted with his godfather, went back into Severus's compartment. Severus was rocking back and forth, looking scared. 

"They know," he whispered. "They know. I have to expel them before they can prove I'm from the Dark Forest and get me killed." 

"They aren't going to try to kill you," Evan assured him. "They wouldn't do that." 

Harry felt his stomach lurch, begging to release it's contents. Sirius had tried to kill Severus. Evan had been wrong about that. Stupid, moronic prank. Didn't Sirius have a brain? Couldn't he see that something was wrong with Severus? Or did he just not care? 

"Yes, they would," Severus said. "Black said he was going to try to find someone from the Dark Forest and get them killed. He's after me. He never did like me. They didn't mind killing a three year old so why would killing a sixteen-year-old bug them?" 

"That was the Ministry, not Black," Florence reasoned with him. 

Severus shrugged. "Same difference. They are all on the same side." 

The memories swirled and Harry shut his eyes, feeling tears threatening to leak out. He needed to get Dumbledore to talk with Severus, get Dumbledore to help him. But Harry couldn't do that, he wasn't here. Maybe Dumbledore would help anyway, he had to have helped eventually since Severus turned against Voldemort and Dumbledore trusted Severus so much. 


	10. Pranks and Christmas

Body Disclaimer: all rights to J.K. Rowlings and whoever else owns Harry Potter. 

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Chapter 10: Pranks and Christmas 

"Do you think we should stop him?" asked Florence. 

Harry opened his eyes to see her and Evan sitting in the library at a table. Severus was nowhere to be seen. 

"I don't know, Flora," Evan sighed, slouching in the seat he must have enlarged to fit his bulky frame. 

Florence looked worried. "He's really annoying Potter and Black, following them around and trying to get them expelled. What if they do something to him?" 

Evan raised an eyebrow. "What could those morons do to Sev?" 

"They are supposed to be the best students in school you know, real bright, or so they say. I'm sure they could think of something." 

Evan snorted, obviously not of the opinion that James or Sirius could hurt Severus. Harry, actually, agreed with Evan. 

"Besides, I'm the best student in school," Evan said, strangely not in a boasting manner. "And the brightest." 

Florence looked slightly upset. "Don't go around repeating that! You have troll blood in you and troll bloods are supposed to be stupid! You could get into a lot of trouble if someone realized you were as intelligent as you actually are." 

Evan snarled, not at Florence, but seemingly at the world at large. "Yes, I know. Trolls are dumb, trolls are evil, trolls deserve to die!" he muttered angrily, suddenly kicking the table in front of him and sending it crashing against the ceiling to splinter and rain down in pieces. 

Madam Pince strode over, rigid. "That's the third one you've destroyed this year! You told me..." 

Her voice trailed off as she stared at Evan's angry face. His mouth was working as were his hands. Florence had her arms folded and was glaring at Madam Pince. Harry felt sorry for the librarian. Those two were intimidating! 

Madam Pince took out her wand. "_Reparo_!" she called and the table went back together. "Next time I'm going to make you do that yourself," she hissed. 

Evan sneered. "I'm too stupid to do a spell like that, I am half-troll you know. Dumb and stupid. Such complex spells as repairing objects is beyond my limited mental capacity." 

"Besides," Florence added, "we are Slytherins and if it isn't evil we won't do it and I don't see how repairing furniture is evil. Get a Gryffindor to do it for you. They're the good guys, after all." 

Madam Pince slipped her wand back into her robe, and gazed at the two of them, worry chasing anger on her face. She finally turned and left. 

Harry watched Evan and Florence take out some books and start to read from them. Looking around, Harry spotted his godfather and father sitting at the opposite end of the library, well out of ear shot, but even so they looked like they were arguing. 

Intrigued, and assuring himself that Evan and Florence weren't doing anything that he might miss, Harry walked over to them. 

"I know Severus is acting like a git but trying to get revenge isn't working. Why don't we just quit bugging him and let it blow over? I'm sure he'll get bored with bothering us if we don't let him bait us," James said, messing up his hair. 

"And admit he's won!" Sirius snarled. "We need to teach him a lesson!" 

James adjusted his glasses, shaking his head. "He's better at curses than we are by a long shot, I can't even do a curse on him that lasts for more than five seconds because he knows all the counter curses. I say we leave him alone." 

Sirius sat back, looking smug suddenly. "Well, after tonight, we won't have to worry about that. I finally found a prank that I can play on Snape to show him he had better quit messing with us." 

"And what is that?" James asked, tiredly. "None of them have worked before." 

Sirius smiled and Harry felt sick. That prank with Remus was tonight. "I told him how to get past the Whomping Willow." 

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, great," he said sarcastically. "How is getting past the Willow a prank?" 

Sirius looked irritated. "Remus, the full moon." 

The color left James's face. "You're kidding?" 

"No," Sirius said, getting angry. "He's going to get a nasty little surprise and then maybe he'll quit bugging us." 

James whipped around in his seat. "Full moon tonight." 

He bolted out of the chair and ran out the library. 

Harry stared at his godfather, feeling anger beginning to boil inside. He liked Sirius, the man, but Harry didn't like the kid one bit. Jerking his head around, Harry stalked off to sit with Evan and Florence. 

They were reading up on poisons and curses and other things. Harry wondered if Severus had been telling the truth on the train. Had they joined Voldemort already? After a few minutes, Professor McGonagall came into the library and went to where Sirius was; she looked thin-lipped and angry. They left together. Harry turned away from Sirius, not wanting to see him. 

Harry waited for what seemed like an eternity, hoping the memories didn't swirl before he got a chance to see how the prank affected Severus. If he knew, he could help Severus deal with it when he got back because it was something that still greatly bothered him. 

Severus came sweeping into the library, looking pale and angry. Sweat was beading on his forehead though it wasn't warm. 

"What happened?" Florence asked, immediately moving her seat next to the one he sat in. 

Severus shrugged his thin shoulders, his body was twitching, Harry noticed. "Nothing. Can't tell, of course," his cheek twitched. "I'm just some evil creature Dumbledore wants destroyed." 

Dumbledore? 

Evan stood up, dragging Severus up with him and Florence gathered up all their stuff. Harry followed them as they headed to the Slytherin dorm rooms. 

Professor Mayor was standing outside their entrance, looking disgusted. "I heard what happened," he said, looking Severus up and down. "Too bad the prank didn't work. One less person to worry about joining the Dark Lord." 

Mayor barely got time enough to let out a half scream before Evan's fist wrapped itself around his throat. He started to squeeze, a smile on his face, while Florence watched mutely. Severus was shivering and staring at the floor, oblivious to what was going on around him. 

"Evan!" came Dumbledore's voice. 

Evan let Mayor go, throwing him aside like a doll, and stepped in front of Severus. "What do you want?" he snarled. 

"I would like to talk with Severus, if I may." 

"No," Florence said, taking Severus's hand and leading him to the entrance. She muttered the word "mandrake," but Dumbledore moved in front of the entrance too quickly for her to make it through. The entrance shut behind him. 

"Professor Mayor, I would like to talk with these three alone," Dumbledore said, dismissing the man on the ground. 

Mayor got up, rubbing his throat, and glared at Evan. Evan watched him, licking his lips. Mayor's eyes widened and he scurried away, needing no further encouragement from Dumbledore. 

"What do you want?" Evan repeated, sounding even less civil than before. 

Dumbledore, seeing that there was no way for him to talk with Severus alone, looked at him. "I'm sorry about what happened, but Sirius is a hothead, he didn't mean to put your life in danger..." 

Severus laughed, a bitter and cold laugh. "Yeah, right. He wants me dead, just like Mayor and you do." 

"I don't want you dead..." 

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Severus screamed at him, spit flying from his mouth and looking rather deranged. 

Dumbledore stepped towards him and Severus stepped backwards. He looked scared, Harry saw, very scared. Dumbledore must have seen this because he stepped backward himself and moved away from the entrance. 

"Just remember, all three of you, that I always give people second chances if they are sorry about what they have done." 

"Except for Slytherins," Florence bit out, repeating the password and moving through with Severus. 

"Especially Slytherins," Dumbledore adamantly said. 

Severus looked back at Dumbledore, briefly, and then away. Evan made an obscene gesture in Dumbledore's direction and went through the entrance himself, standing there until it shut so Dumbledore couldn't come in. 

Dumbledore slumped against the brick wall, looking more exhausted than Harry had ever seen him. 

"I'm losing them and I can't get them to trust me. But what could I have done differently?" he asked, sounding so miserable that Harry felt tears spring to his eyes. 

Harry felt himself being jerked through the brick wall and to the Slytherin dorm rooms. It was dark and there was no noise. Harry wandered around until he found where Severus and Evan were. 

Severus was laying half propped up against Evan while a silver orb, hanging in midair, shone light all around them. The curtains had to be magicked not to show light through them since Harry hadn't seen the light from the outside of the curtains. 

"He knows I'm from the Dark Forest," Severus breathed, "he knows. That's why he used a werewolf to try to kill me because he knew I could defend myself. Sixteen year olds aren't supposed to know how. Everyone would wonder and then someone would guess it and they'd kill me. Potter followed me, followed me to see what I was going to do. Stupid idiot freaked out when he saw the werewolf and lost his nerve," Severus started to chew on his robe sleeve as he talked. "He grabbed me, too nervous to see if I could handle the werewolf, I guess. Afraid of getting killed himself if it didn't work." 

Harry swallowed. Severus wasn't supposed to have told anyone about Remus being a werewolf but judging from how bright Severus's eyes were and how pale he was Harry wasn't sure he really knew what he was saying. 

"They don't know," Evan assured him. "Blacky boy is a hothead, you're the one that told me that, and he's just trying to find a way to pay you back for all the unsuccessful pranks he's tried to pull on you. You're bad for his ego." 

Severus shook his head. "No, they want me dead. All of them. Black, Potter, and Lupin. All three of them planned it. I know they did. Black wouldn't have done that to Lupin without his consent. Potter just got cold feet is all. They all want me dead," Severus quit chewing his mangled sleeve. "Evan," he whispered, "if they succeed, bury me next to my parents, please. And Katrina." 

Harry angrily wiped at his eyes. Severus had it all wrong but it wasn't like he was emotionally capable of understanding anything right now. It was just reacting to what he thought was a threat to his life. Harry tried to reach out a hand to brush his forehead but his hand went through air. 

Evan hugged him tightly. "I will. And trust me, if they succeed you won't be the only person I'll be burying or maybe I won't be burying them. They might make a good dinner, except Lupin, he's too thin." 

Harry shivered. 

Severus went back to chewing on his sleeve and Harry watched as some blood started to trickle down his face. Evan grabbed his wrist and held it, carefully wrapping some cloth he tore from his own robe to bind the bitten flesh. 

The memories swirled again. 

It was Christmas, presents in a pile as three people, Evan, Florence, and Severus, leaned against the stone wall in the boy's dorm and looked at them. 

Severus reached out and snagged one wrapped in gold paper. "For Florence, from your...." he trailed off, looking at her. 

Florence took her wand out and blasted the thing into flames as Severus put it on the ground. He rifled through some more and she blasted every present that was from a family member. Finally only nine packages remained. 

"Do you do that every Christmas?" Severus asked her, looking worried, but extremely sad as well. 

Harry didn't blame him, this was his first Christmas without his family. Florence nodded her head. 

Evan grabbed a rather large box and shoved it at Severus. "From me." 

Severus opened it. It was a box full of chocolate frog boxes. Severus smiled a little. 

"Now you can quit bothering me for my frogs," Evan said, winking at him. 

Severus gave them both his present for them. He had given Evan a book on complicated spells and charms, one for advanced witches and wizards. And a knife sharpening kit. 

Evan looked touched. "Thank you." 

Florence had been given a book on _Baby Names_ and a novel. She also looked touched. "For the middle names?" she asked, flipping through the thick book. 

"All kids need middle names," Severus said. 

Florence smiled. "You don't have one." 

"No, my dad didn't think I...." he trailed off, wiping at his eyes. 

Evan slipped a hand around Severus's neck and tipped him against his shoulder. "Nothing wrong with crying, Severus. It's your first Christmas without your family. Me and Flora are both expecting you to burst into tears throughout the day at the slightest provocation," Evan wasn't mocking, just serious. "Don't worry, we will stay in the dorm room and not even go down for the Christmas Feast." 

Severus nodded his head and pulled away. "Thank you." 

Florence handed him her present. It was a strange one, two rings. "Our wedding rings," Florence explained, "see the inscriptions I had put on the inside?" 

Harry strained to see them. Both rings were gold and extremely simple, just bands, one being slightly wider than the other one. On the inside of the wider one was the inscription, in plain letters, _My love forever_. Severus smiled at Florence. The narrower one had a similar inscription, _Love you always_. 

Severus grinned. "What I always tell you whenever you're upset." 

Florence nodded her head, looking pleased. 

"If you two want to kiss, I'll look away," Evan told them as they were making rather mushy eyes at each other. 

They didn't kiss, but they did hug. 

"Too bad we can't get married sooner," Florence sighed. "Seventh year is so far away." 

Evan shrugged. "You can. Come with me to my house this summer and you two can. Getting married by a troll is legal and they don't care how old you are." 

Severus looked at Evan. "Really?" 

Evan nodded, sending all the wrapping paper to a small wastepaper basket that was nearby with a flick of his wand. "Florence will have to keep her last name until you are eighteen so no one will know what you did but aside from that, it's legal." 

Harry didn't think that getting married at the age of sixteen or maybe seventeen, depending on when their birthdays were during the summer, was a good idea. It was so young. But then again, Florence didn't really have a family, at least not one that she wanted to be around, and Severus had just lost his. And being married would give them both a family. 

"The last presents are from my dad!" Evan said triumphantly. 

"He gave us presents?" Florence asked, looking startled. 

"I told him what happened to Sev's family." Severus looked away. "He lost his parents when he was your age due to a raid." 

"Really?" Severus asked, looking back. 

Evan nodded, handing out the presents. "Yeah, he knows what it's like. Talking with him this summer should help you, too." 

Severus and Florence took their presents and waited for Evan to open his. Harry winced. It was raw meat of some kind. 

Evan greedily slurped some of it up. "Delicious." 

"He didn't send us that, did he?" Florence wondered. 

Evan laughed. "No! He sent you two human presents." 

Harry wondered if Crabbe or Goyle ever got presents like that from home. 

Severus and Florence looked at each other and then opened their presents together. Florence had a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a dragon with emerald eyes. Severus's was a snake. 

"They're great," Florence said, taking off her regular cloak clasp and using it. Severus did the same with his. 

Harry had never seen Severus use the snake clasp. He wondered if he still had it. Harry would find out. Maybe he could get Dobby to rifle through Severus's belongings for him, if Dobby liked Severus, that was. 

The memories swirled again. 

"You're Potter's kid, aren't you?" said a deep, husky voice. "The one Voldemort was after." 

Harry spun around to see Evan Rosier standing there. He looked mean, and dangerous. His hair was long, unkempt, and his beard was rough and straggly. Evan's clothes were those of a biker Muggle's, down to the leather jacket and boots with chains hanging off them. 

Harry fell backwards, scared. He should have known better than to get into a Death Eater's Pensieve. 


	11. Conversations

Body Disclaimer: _all rights to J.K. Rowlings and whoever else owns Harry Potter_. 

_Thank you for the reviews and don't worry SophieB. I love long reviews._

The Dark Past: Confusing Times 

by: Taran 

Chapter 11: Conversations 

Harry blinked, unsure if this was just another memory or if this was more along the lines of what Voldemort had done with his diary. Was this Pensieve just a trap, like that dairy had been, to lure someone in it and suck their life force out so Evan could have a body? 

Harry swallowed, pinching himself. As he got up, he felt solid. 

Evan watched him, amusement almost flickering across his hard face. "Don't worry kid, this is just a memory of me." 

Harry stepped backwards, wiping his sweaty palms on his robe. "How?" 

"Voldemort was always boasting to some of us about how he had enchanted his dairy with the essence, or whatever it is called, of his sixteen-year-old self so I got an idea and did the same with my Pensieve. Interesting effect." 

Harry felt cold. "Is my life being drained out of me while you get stronger?" 

Evan smiled a bit. "No, Potty, I have no intention of joining the land of the living. After I did this I got myself good and killed. Mad-Eye Moody was the one I picked to bring me down. Did that happen?" 

"I don't know," Harry answered, feeling slightly better but still wondering why Evan had done this. "I don't know how you died." 

"Oh, well. So," Evan looked at him oddly, "how did Voldemort come back from the dead?" 

Harry was shocked. "How did you know he died? And how did you know he was back? You died before he did." 

Evan slid up his sleeve to show off the vivid red Dark Mark. "While I was in here this tattoo disappeared, which meant, I thought, that Voldemort was dead. But now it's back, which means he's alive again. How?" 

"He was after me for some reason..." 

"Yeah, I know," Evan said. "He started going after you two weeks before I made this Pensieve." Harry remembered that Sirius had mentioned, at least he thought it was him, that Pettigrew had been feeding Voldemort information about his parents a year before he fell and Evan would have still been around then, barely. "Don't know why he wanted to kill an infant though," Evan finished, looking at him as if trying to determine why Voldemort would have been after him. 

Harry shrugged. "No one has told me either." He explained to Evan how he had brought Voldemort down that first time and how he was famous for it now. 

Evan rolled his eyes. "That idiot. He should have known the killing curse would have backfired on him if Lily had died saving your life. Which," he looked at Harry, "is odd. Why didn't he just kill Lily right out? Why didn't he want to kill her? He enjoys killing people. That makes no sense." 

Harry shrugged. "Why did you get yourself killed?" he asked suddenly. 

Evan's face got harder and his hands clenched. "What choice did I have? All three of us, me, Florence, and Severus, realized we were on the wrong side. Voldemort's one tricky....." he was off using language that Harry had never heard before. "Voldemort recruited teenagers, using honeyed lies to draw them in and then he starts to tell them a little more about what he was really about, a little at a time so they wouldn't bolt, and before they knew it, they were in too deep to get out. He purposely picked teenagers that had no where to go, no one to turn to so when they did realize they were on the wrong side they had no choice but to stay." 

"Severus went back to Dumbledore," Harry said. 

Evan's face got dark. "He didn't go to Dumbledore. That old fool went to him. I'm sure he made Severus believe he actually cared about him." 

"He does," Harry defended Dumbledore. 

Evan snorted. "Sure he does. Then why didn't he try to save him before he become a Death Eater? I'll tell you why," Evan snarled. "He needed a spy and let Severus go over, knowing what Sev would find and knowing he would be disgusted with it so he could use him! I'm sure Severus was flattered by the attention he finally got from the great man but it was just to use him! Dumbledore didn't care! Evan thundered. 

"That's not true," Harry said, desperately hoping it wasn't. 

"Believe what you want," Evan said coldly, his eyes as hard and empty as Severus's were. "I'm sure it will make you sleep easier at nights." 

Harry studied Evan's cruel face and realized that Evan believed what he said. But Harry didn't. 

"He trusts Severus. He's even made him the Potions Master at Hogwarts and the Head of Slytherin House," Harry told him, trying to change Evan's view of Dumbledore. 

Evan's eyes widened. "He made an ex-Death Eater Head of Slytherin House?" 

Harry nodded his head, watching and waiting as Evan thought over this new information. 

"Smart move," Evan finally said, with grudging respect. 

Harry had never thought about it overly much. "What do you mean 'smart move'"? 

"Think about it. Now that Voldemort is back; how, you still haven't told me, most of his recruits will come from Slytherin, like they did last time, but this time, those kids will have someone to run to when they realize what fools they've been to believe Voldemort. And they won't feel guilty about it since Severus also fell into Voldemort's trap." Evan continued to look thoughtful. "Maybe I've been wrong about Dumbledore." 

Harry nodded his head emphatically. "He cares, he always did. He just didn't know how to handle it. He's only one man, after all." 

Evan sighed. "I know." 

"Were you alive when Florence died?" Harry wondered. 

Evan winced. "Yeah. She got herself killed too." 

"Why?" Harry demanded to know. 

"She didn't feel she had a choice. Like me. I was too bloodthirsty to ever join the good side and Florence hated the Ministry too much to ever join the side they were on. But she knew she was on the wrong side. And we knew Severus was a spy for Dumbledore." 

"You both knew that?" Harry interrupted. "You didn't turn him in?" 

Evan looked at him. "Neither I nor Florence had much loyalty to Voldemort, Potty. He was just an end to a means. I wanted to kill and he let me. Florence wanted to pay all the people back that had ever hurt her and Voldemort let her. Severus was just with Voldemort to see if he would protect the Dark Forest people when he was in power. Though we had joined it for that reason too, we enjoyed it too much to leave. Sev became a spy when he realized Voldemort was full of crap, thanks to Dumbledore going after him, and me and Florence protected him until we realized it was killing him to see how many people we were murdering. He was about to turn us in to Dumbledore; he didn't want to, but he felt he had no choice. And that's when we both decided to get ourselves killed so he would be spared the horror of feeling guilty for our deaths." 

Harry felt tears spring to his eyes. "I'm sorry." 

Evan smiled, one that finally softened his face. "Thanks, Potty. We really messed up our lives, didn't we?" 

Harry straightened up, feeling angry. "It didn't look like you three had much choice. By the way, has Narcissa ever..." 

Evan shook his head. "Not before I made this memory of me. At school she acted like she didn't even know Severus. It killed him to see her, I think that was one reason why he was after your father and Black so much. He was just trying to forget about the pain." 

"Black was an idiot!" Harry said savagely. 

Evan laughed. "Whoa, there boy. Black was a kid, Potty. A hothead, but a kid still. He didn't know what was wrong with Severus. He was reacting to how mean Severus got, and trust me, Severus got mean. I spared you those parts." 

"Spared me?" Harry asked. 

"I control this Pensieve, Potty. I show the viewer what I want them to see and nothing more." 

"Sev was mean, then." 

Evan nodded his head. "He got very mean, Potty. I don't think he realized what he was saying half the time but if I had been in Black's shoes, I think I would have done the same thing. It's hard to feel sorry for someone when they're being cruel to you on a daily basis." 

Harry understood that. It had been hard to like Severus as a teacher, despite it being obvious he must not have had an easy life. 

"Why didn't anyone notice something was wrong with him?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around his chest tightly. "He changed so drastically." 

"Everyone always thought the worse of Sev because of the way he looked and his interests. When he started to act mean and evil everyone just decided that was the way he had always been and that hurt him. Nobody cared to find out what was wrong. It didn't help that near the end of sixth year your father lost his parents and everyone showered him with love and attention for it. Severus's hate for your dad skyrocketed then. Don't blame him, though. It was murder for him, listening to everyone talk about how evil the Dark Forest people had been and how they had all deserved to die while watching how much everyone loved and adored Potty and felt so sorry for him for his loss." 

Harry swallowed. 

"Severus said some pretty cruel things to your dad about his loss. Black and him often got into bloody fist fights over it, too. I usually had to pull Sev off him. Black was no match for him, I'm afraid." 

Harry looked away. What a mess. He couldn't blame Black and his dad but he also couldn't blame Severus. Where had the adults been in all this? 

"Why didn't an adult notice?" Harry demanded. 

Evan laughed. "Mayor hated our guts and all the other Heads of Houses had their own kids to worry about. And Dumbledore was worrying about whoever it was that Voldemort was after that week. There wasn't one to notice." 

Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets, getting angry. What would happen to him if his life got flipped out from under him somehow? Would anyone care? Would anyone notice? Or would they just shrug their shoulders and walk away like they had for Severus? 

"I guess I had better never turn bad or I won't have any friends left. They'll all turn against me." 

"I doubt it. You're Potty's son and like you said, you're famous. Everyone would try to save you, while letting other kids burn." Evan's face got hard again. "Don't ever turn bad, because if you do, you will be sacrificing other kids lives for your own." 

Harry nodded his head. "I won't. I'll stay good. Besides, I hate Voldemort, he murdered my family...." Harry's voice trailed off as a horrible thought entered his head. Severus was on the side that had murdered his family, and his two best friends. "No wonder why he hates us all," Harry muttered. 

"Yeah," Evan agreed. "It's got to be torture for him, even though he knows he's doing what is right. At least I guess it's the right thing." 

"He's not on the Ministry's side now," Harry said. "He's on Dumbledore's. Fudge, the Minister of Magic, is against Dumbledore, kind of. Fudge doesn't believe that Voldemort is back. And Lucius Malfoy, a Death Eater, has Fudge in his pocket." 

Evan's laugh was horrible. "Narcissa's married to a Death Eater?! Just great. Does Severus know?" 

Harry nodded his head, letting the tears fall on his cheeks. "Yeah. I told him. I didn't know they were related. It happened in the hospital..." and Harry explained everything else to Evan. About the Stone, Lockhart and the diary, and Lupin, Pettigrew, and Barty Crouch Jr., the Longbottoms, and then Voldemort's rebirth. 

Evan nodded his head, listening to it all. 

"Why is Sev so obsessed with getting the Order of Merlin?" Harry asked, when he was done. 

"Probably to ease his guilt, Potty. He blames himself for the murders that me and Florence did. Severus never killed anyone for Voldemort. His first and last kill was during that Dark Forest Raid." 

"But the murders you two did weren't his fault!" Harry exploded. 

"I got my first kill in the Dark Forest and I was there on his invitation, he blames himself for what happened to me, and Florence, he just feels horrible about. He got a front row seat in watching her go insane and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it." 

"She went insane?" Harry asked, feeling his spine tingle. 

Evan nodded. "Mostly. He tried helping her, but there was nothing he could do. Everything was against them. Florence retained enough sanity to realize she was going insane and that's also why she got herself killed. She knew it was killing him to have to watch it happen. She loved him and protected him the best she could in life. Several Death Eaters died at her hands because she believed they were threats to him, not just people on your side." 

"I got to help him!" Harry said, suddenly. 

Evan shook his head. "There is nothing _you_ can do." 

Harry caught his strange inflection on the word 'you.' "Who then?" Harry demanded. 

"His kids," Evan said. 

Harry's mouth dropped. "He has kids?! He got married to Florence then?" 

"Yeah and they had two of them," Evan said. "I'm hoping they're still alive." 

Harry waited for Evan to explain this to him. 

"After Florence died, Severus wanted his kids to be as far away from England as he could get them. He was terrified that the Ministry would kill them because he was a Death Eater or that Voldemort would kill them because he was a spy. He didn't trust Dumbledore enough to hand his kids to him, Dumbledore had Potty to protect after all and no one was ever more important to anyone than Potty, and Severus didn't dare go to Melusine and tell her that he was working against Voldemort. Scared of her, too." 

"What did he do with them, then?" Harry asked, feeling sick. 

"That," Evan sighed, "is the question. He can't remember. He obliterated his memory of what he did with them so no one, no matter what they did to him, would ever know either." 

"Can't it be reversed?" Harry asked, horrified. 

Evan winked, drawing out a book, the same book that Severus had given Evan for Christmas during their sixth year. "You can't reverse it but if a remembrance spell is done beforehand on the person who is about to obliterate their memory the information can be gotten from them while they are in a trance. I did the spell on Sev because I knew what he was about to do. The instructions for doing the spell to get the information is in this book." Evan handed Harry the book. It was solid, real. "After I made this Pensieve, I obliterated my own memory so I wouldn't remember doing the spell on Severus or making this Pensieve for that matter. There was no way I was going to be responsible for spilling that kind of information to someone accidently, just in case my death plan didn't work. I wanted this Pensieve to get into Severus's hands but that idiot Malfoy got a hold of it. Didn't realize how until you told me he was a Death Eater. Moronic imbecile." 

Harry agreed with that. "Has Malfoy ever been in here?" 

Evan grinned wickedly. "Once. I showed him a lovely image of me hunting down a deer and killing it and devouring it with my bare hands. He hasn't been back since. He, like everyone else, figured I was an idiot since I was a half-troll and nothing useful could be garnered from this Pensieve. I thought he was in here for the Ministry. Next time he's in here I shall give him some more lovely views of me murdering things." 

"Why did you show me all these things?" Harry asked, slightly confused. 

Evan shrugged. "You're the first person in it besides him, I'm getting desperate and once I saw that you really cared for Severus I decided to let you know about his kids. You've got to find them. Don't tell him until you know what happened to them. If they are dead don't tell him anything. Rather have him wondering if they are alive then knowing they are dead." 

Harry nodded his head, slipping the book under his cloak. "I won't let you down. And if Dumbledore gets this Pensieve like he's supposed to you can show him all this, too." 

Evan shook his head. "No, if Severus hasn't told Dumbledore about his life I'm not going to either. I only let you know because I'm desperate." 

Harry, feeling proud that he had been chosen by Evan, took a deep breath. "I'll find his kids for him and I'll try to be friends with him too," he assured the man as he pulled the invisibility cloak over his head and made sure he was covered all the way with it. 

Evan, for the first time, had tears in his eyes. "Thank you." 

Harry was pulled out of the Pensieve and landed on the soft carpet of the Weasley's bedroom floor. He scrambled out from under the bed and noted that the sun was streaming in through the windows and the Weasleys were out of bed. Harry hoped his absence hadn't been noted yet. 

"HOW DARE YOU!" screamed an all-too-familiar voice. Lucius Malfoy. 

Malfoy blasted the bedroom door down while Harry cringed into a corner, not wanting anyone to bump into him. Malfoy eyed the bed, not seeing the Pensieve anywhere else, and blasted the bed apart. 

Fudge came in behind him, wringing his hands and looking red-faced. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley fought their way into their bedroom and glared at Malfoy. 

Malfoy grabbed the Pensieve and tapped it with his wand, sending it back home, Harry guessed. 

"You shouldn't have raided his Manor," Fudge said, looking severely at Mr. Weasley. "I told you to leave him alone." 

Mr. Weasley's ears went red. "I'm sorry," he spluttered. Harry winced in sympathy, Mr. Weasley probably had raided it on Dumbledore's orders but couldn't tell Fudge that. 

Fudge, for all his blustering, guessed it. "And next time Dumbledore gives you an order, I would suggest you coming to me first!" he said angrily. 

Malfoy sneered around the bedroom, noticing for the first time, Harry guessed, how it looked. "Reminds me of my house-elf's quarters," he smiled. 

Mrs. Weasley went red in the face. "If you two are through, I would appreciate it if you would leave our home." 

"Certainly," Malfoy said, looking at her with disgust. "Who knows what kind of germs and little parasites I've managed to pick up in this hovel? I may have to bathe at least ten times to rid myself of all this filth." 

Harry held himself back from jumping at Malfoy, fortunately so did Mr. Weasley, though his face was now purple. 

"GET OUT!" Mr. Weasley thundered. 

Malfoy sneered at him, and with Fudge following behind like a loyal little dog, they left. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone, Harry hurried up to Ron's bedroom and slipped inside. Ron was just beginning to stir from the noise. Harry slipped off the cloak and stuffed it into his trunk, along with the book, and then jumped into bed. 

Several seconds later, Ron's voice spoke up. "Oi, Harry," he said, sleepily, "what's that noise?" 

Harry was about to tell him when he realized he wasn't supposed to know. "Don't know," Harry lied, making his voice sound thick with sleep, "what did you wake me up for?" 

"Sorry," Ron mumbled, turning over and going back to bed. 

Harry rolled over, determined to get Severus's kids back for him. Harry just hoped that they were still alive. They had to be, they just had to be! 

To be continued in: Phoenix Rising. 


End file.
